Budget Season Already? What You Need to Know About the 2025-2026 Budget for Greenwich Public Schools 

Overview to the budget process: In Greenwich, the Greenwich Public Schools’ (GPS) budget season—which takes place around the end of March—is the central focus of the newspapers, the Board of Education (BOE), Board of Estimation and Taxation (BET), and Greenwich residents. Every winter, the BET--who is in charge of town funding--provides GPS Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones and her team with a guideline for the budget. Dr. Jones and her team then draft a budget for the upcoming school year. The draft budget consists of estimated costs to run GPS; these costs include staff and administration salaries, building and maintenance, etc. The team then sends the budget to BOE, who votes on it. If it is passed, then the budget has to go to the BET for approval, and, if it is passed there, it will then go to the various Representative Town Meetings (RTM) across Greenwich for approval. Should the BET or BOE not approve the budget, then Dr. Jones and her team must look at the “feedback” they receive, and make amends as necessary. 

What you need to know about the 2025-2026 budget for GPS: 

1. Budget details and discrepancies 

   1. • 4.5 million: There is a 4.5 million dollar difference in GPS's proposed budget and the BET's guidelines. 

      • 2.96% vs 5.4%: The BET budget guidelines for this year was no more than a 2.96% increase (for the budget). This is where the 4.5 million dollar gap in what the BOE is asking and what the BET guidelines are, is. Reasons for the gap include: 

        • • Fixed costs (contractual obligations) that continue to rise.

          • Loss of Title I funding (which provides extra help to schools who have a certain percentage of students whose families are struggling), as the Town has seen an increase in the overall amount of wealth. 

      • Change in enrollments: The commonly shared statistic that enrollments are down 143 this year is misleading. This number isn't representative of declining enrollment, but actual enrollment being less than projected. The real decline in students was actually 98 (1.1%) from 2023-2024. Regardless, the predicted kindergarten class of 2025 is greater than those in decades. This level of enrollment is predicted to be at the same level until 2035 (changes of less than 1%). 

      • 24-25 vs 22.2 additional Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs): After the BOE vote to reduce the budget by $500,000, the number of FTEs was cut to 22.2. 

        • • How the 22.2 FTEs are made up: 3 long-term administrators that were moved to the Town payroll in 2024 and will be moving back to the BOE for 2025, 5 long-time educators previously paid for by the now absent Title 1 funding, 5.4 brought on this year to work in (the required) Pre-K program, and 8.8 new FTEs (4 required for growing Special Education and Pre-K programs and 5 for the Positive Pathways program).

      • Teacher absenteeism costs: GPS employs 1,400 professionals who will inevitably have sick leave and personal time off, all of which are included in labor contracts. 

      • Special Education programs: Special Education is legally mandated, but increased state and federal reimbursements bring on about 10 million dollars in cost savings. 

   2. The impact

      • After the vote, GPS could be looking at cuts to staff and programs. 

        • • Staffing: The 4.5-4.6 million dollar gap is about 45 teachers. This could affect the numbers of students per class, classes that are available (especially at the middle and high school level), and the amount of enrichment opportunities that are available (eg. clubs). It’s important to note that no final decisions have been made. 

            • • Dr. Jones has said that the contractual obligations are “5.8 million, and the 2.96% increase from the BET won’t even cover contracts.” 

          • Programs: It’s unclear what specific programs would be cut, but the second grade Advanced Learning Program (ALP) has been mentioned as a potential place to cut. Again, nothing has been finalized yet. 

          • Start time: In order to accommodate the number of students who have to take the bus to school, and the current overlapping start times, GPS has been using extra buses. GPS has determined that moving GHS’ start time to 7:30 am, and the elementary and middle schools a bit later could save up to $2.5 million. However, this discussion is still ongoing. 

          • Pay to Play: Another option that the BOE has explored is having students who participate in sports at GHS pay $220 to play. It’s important to note that no final decisions have been made. 

   3. BET decision day: April 1, 2025

      • On April 1st, 2025, the BET cut around $4 million from the school budget. This means that Dr. Jones and GPS administration will have to find places in the budget that they can cut in order to reach the $4 million gap. The places that GPS ends up cutting could fall into many different categories, and with discussions still ongoing, it's hard to tell where there may be changes. 

How to get involved with this budget discussion and future budget discussions: 

1. Write comments to the BET through their “Form Center” on the Town of Greenwich’s website. 

2. Sign up to speak at a future BET or BOE meeting. 

3. Email local town officials and representatives with questions or concerns.

To Conclude:

The 4.5-4.6 million dollar gap in what the BET guidelines for the GPS budget are and what the district actually needs is a problem. Between programs that are state mandated, and contractual obligations, among others, GPS has concluded that there are not many places for them to cut. 

*Some information provided courtesy of the Greenwich Parent Teacher Association Council*