Interim superintendent presents $81.8 million FY27 Salem Public Schools budget; committee recommends personnel and expense budgets

Interim Superintendent Kate Carbone and Deputy Superintendent Elizabeth Paulie presented Salem Public Schools’ proposed FY27 operating budget of $81,755,368 to the City of Salem committee on administration and finance on June 10. Carbone told the committee that "our initial proposal totals $81,755,368, with approximately 78% of the budget dedicated to personnel," and described the proposal as balanced through a mix of reductions, grant uses and strategic staffing choices.

The proposal reflects a district strategy to protect core student services while responding to a challenging fiscal environment. Paulie said the district expects elementary class sizes to average between 20 and 23 students next year and middle‑school classes around 25. She also reported October 1 enrollment was up 2% year over year but that the district has seen a more rapid decline in multilingual learner enrollment in recent months.

Officials said the budget includes a net reduction of about 31.8 positions tied largely to the planned merger of two elementary schools, while adding four new positions for FY27 to meet enrollment and student‑support needs. Paulie noted that the district added 14 positions during the current year as student needs emerged. "When faced with making reductions, we tried to make those as far away from the student experience and the supports that would directly affect their experience in our schools," Paulie said.

The presentation broke the budget into 18 cost centers. Salem High School is the single largest cost center, projected at $15,550,335.91 for FY27 (a 7.5% increase), with Collins Middle School and special education among the next-largest shares. Administrators said special education spending appears lower in some lines because increased circuit‑breaker reimbursements reduced the charge to the general fund.

District leaders flagged several operating cost drivers: a $1.5 million regular‑day transportation contract with a new provider (a 17% contract increase), homeless‑student transportation budgeted at about $1.2 million, slower but continuing increases in electricity and natural gas, and property and casualty insurance. The district also reported approximately $4.5 million invested in energy upgrades—lighting, HVAC, boilers and insulation—work it expects will moderate future utility cost increases.

On revenue, Paulie said the district is projecting about $32 million in Chapter 70 state aid, with the City of Salem providing the largest local contribution (reported as approximately $48.8 million). The presenters said they would apply recurring revenues, grants and one‑time prepayments (about $500,000 in prepayment of out‑of‑district tuition) to help balance the FY27 budget.

Council members questioned whether the district faces a recurring structural shortfall and pressed for clarity on the long‑term effects of the elementary merger. Carbone said the merger was central to arriving at a balanced FY27 proposal and that the salary increases negotiated in prior years were an intentional investment to retain educators, but she cautioned that external factors—inflation and Chapter 70 adequacy—remain uncertain.

The committee voted to recommend approval of the personnel budget (reported in the meeting materials as $64,53,931) and the expenses/expenditures budget (reported as $17,71,437); each motion carried with three hands in favor, yielding a department total of $81,755,368. Two councilors had recused themselves for the matter and President Merkel was temporarily appointed to the committee for the meeting.

Administrators also described capital and facility work tied to the budget: moving two specialized programs out of a downtown mall into the Carlton Elementary School building, playground and ADA work, a planned boiler replacement at Witchcraft (soliciting state/federal funds), technology replacements and upgrades in multiple schools, and investments to ensure the Salem High School gym floor can be reused when a new high school is built.

The committee advanced the school budget recommendations to the full council and then proceeded to consider capital appropriation orders. The meeting adjourned after those votes and routine business.