Draft budget for 2026-27 school year presented to community at Graham School

Superintendent Dr. Demario Strickland presented the draft budget for the 2026-27 school year to the community at Graham School on Thursday evening. The draft budget was approved by the Board of Education on Tuesday, April 7 and includes a 1.99% increase to the tax levy, which is below the tax cap prescribed by the state. Click here to watch the full presentation or click here to view the PowerPoint.

The District will host another budget presentation at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, at Pennington School. The budget vote and trustee election will be held on Tuesday, May 19.

Dr. Strickland outlined key factors impacting expenses for the District, including $17.5 million in charter school tuition (25% increase), $40 million in special education expenses (25% increase), $16.1 million for transportation (8% decrease), and $33.5 million in healthcare benefits (8.7% increase).

He also explained how buildings are utilized, noting that special education guidelines require certain classroom sizes and limit the number of students, limiting available space in each building. While enrollment is decreasing, the population of students with disabilities is increasing, and many of these students are those with the highest special education needs.

This increase has caused the number of special education classrooms to rise, since those students have needs that require self-contained classes. The district also provides integrated co-teaching classrooms where general education students are taught alongside students with disabilities for students with less intensive needs.

To help balance the budget, the District will reorganize central office positions as well as find efficiencies within the current budget and leverage Title funds. The District is also adding a Director of Bilingual Education and World Languages, as required by the academic and financial improvement plans.

“In a state of declining enrollment. I'm not just adding; I'm looking for efficiencies,” said Dr. Strickland.

He then reviewed other efficiency considerations, such as how the District is aligning staffing to enrollment trends and weighing all vacancies on consistent student to teacher ratios. Operational efficiencies are being found through shared services agreements, grant utilization and cost-saving initiatives. The District is also conducting an internal review of technology and financial systems as well as a special education review of internal services vs. contract services. The District is also analyzing instructional vs. administrative spending to ensure that resources are being used efficiently to advance instructional goals.

Facilities will play a large factor in the District’s long-term plan. There are over $400 million in tier one repairs, which are the most vital repairs related to safety, identified in the latest building condition survey. Dr. Strickland explained that these need to be remedied with long-term fixes before they worsen further and cost even more.

The 2026-27 budget has been developed as one of the first steps of a longer-term plan that connects enrollment trends, facilities and fiscal sustainability. The District has held preliminary meetings with the State Education Department and State Monitor Dr. Kimberly Young Wilkins to determine if there are any additional funds the District can take advantage of. Due to uncertainty with state and federal revenue factors, the District calculated tax levy increases up to 2.6% before finding that 1.99% would balance the budget.

Dr. Strickland highlighted the fact that all 13 schools are in good standing as local support and improvement schools. He explained how improving schools further can increase home values and draw more students to the district, since a large majority of families cite home values as the top factor in purchase decisions.

Community involvement and transparency have been a key factor in developing this budget, with feedback from the budget priorities survey earlier in the school year helping shape financial priorities. A key program noted in the survey, Gifted and Talented, will be reinstated in 2026-27, allowing additional academic enrichment for students.

“This is an example of where, in the community survey, we listened. Loud and clear, and we're making equal access in our schools,” said Dr. Strickland.

He took questions from community members to end the presentation and encouraged them to provide further feedback on an online survey. Click here to respond to the survey.