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The Sudbury Finance Committee held their annual budget hearing with the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) administration on Monday, February 2. The hearing followed the standard process the committee has been using for years, and featured deep dives on the district’s use of Circuit Breaker special education funds from the State, the management of revolving funds, and implications for future fiscal years.
The hearing was quite efficient, as the committee adjourned roughly two hours after the start of their meeting. Co-chairs Mike Joachim and Mike Ferrari led the committee and brought some well-researched questions to the discussion.
Ferrari had a series of carefully researched questions, particularly regarding inconsistent reporting on the number of full time equivalents (FTEs) employed by the district. Ferrari noted significant spikes in staffing levels in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic. The administration explained that staffing trends are generally based on student needs, but was unable to identify precisely why various reports and documents identified different staffing levels for the same fiscal years.
Joachim’s questions led to a discussion about Circuit Breaker in future years. The administration shared that based on this year’s use of Circuit Breaker to fund the operating budget, the amount they will pre-pay in future fiscal years will be significantly smaller than it has been in the years since the pandemic. This tracks with the trend across the country where the infusion of cash into public schools in response to the pandemic has run out, and budget pressures come rushing back.
At the end of the hearing, members concluded that it was evident that the SPS budget was “razor thin,” indicating that they had stretched to the maximum to make the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget work. That included more aggressive use of revolving funds and Circuit Breaker in the operating budget, and staff cuts on the expense side of the budget.
There was some discussion about what now appears to be an inevitable override request in FY28, and member Hank Sorett told the administration that he wanted the cost centers to begin evaluating what options they had if the voters were to reject an override request. It’s somewhat premature to get into an FY28 override discussion while the cost centers are still preparing FY27 budgets for Annual Town Meeting in May, but growing economic anxiety over cost escalation, inflation, and a potential recession appear to be driving municipalities to develop adaptive, long-term budget strategies.
The hearing will be available on Sudbury TV’s video-on-demand service this week.