BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Boston School Committee voted on Wednesday night to approve the Fiscal Year 2025 budget for Boston Public Schools.
In a press release, BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper highlighted the $1.5 billion budget as a “major step forward” to support inclusive education and to “deliver on the high quality experience every student deserves.”
The budget will "invest in priority areas such as implementing districtwide inclusive education, building equitable literacy practices, and improving multilingual and secondary education."
The press release pointed to the fact that 94% of the FY25 budget expenditures will be allocated to student services.
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However, BPS said that “difficult decisions were made” because of the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds, which set aside billions of dollars from the federal government for schools across the country dealing with the multi-year impacts of COVID-19.
ESSER funds added over 670 positions to the BPS system, which will be in jeopardy in the upcoming fiscal year.
The new budget could cut hundreds of jobs in many of the schools in the BPS system in part because of the loss of this federal pandemic aid.
Amid these federal funding cuts, BPS “identified $17 million efficiencies in its operations and $10 million in classroom consolidation savings.”
In response to questions about staffing cuts, the School Committee said, “there will be layoffs from positions across the district,” but the exact nature of these layoffs is “in flux right now and will continue to be until we complete the process of analyzing staffing data.”
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“Faced with a difficult financial situation with the end of ESSER, which was not unique to us, the Boston Public Schools and the City of Boston came together and created a budget that will benefit our students next year and ensure future success,” said Boston School Committee Chairperson Jeri Robinson.
The Boston Teachers Union responded to the newly approved budget on Thursday.
“Any budget cut to Boston Public Schools which takes a needed service, opportunity, or support away from our students is a serious concern to our union, as it erodes progress that has been hard fought and won.”
The BTU added that they “urge full transparency on any positions impacted by proposed cuts, and will continue advocating for robust funding of our schools at the federal and state levels in addition to the municipal funding currently filling those gaps.”
Despite ESSER funding cuts, the BPS budget also includes a “historic” $81 million investment by the city of Boston and Mayor Michelle Wu.
“This budget invests in our schools through a team-based approach to teaching and learning focused on opportunity and enrichment for every student,” said Wu.
BPS has also been facing enrollment problems over the past decade. The system has lost over 8,000 students, or 15 percent of enrollment, cites the Boston Globe and the non-profit Boston Schools Fund.
The budget will now move to the Boston City Council.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jim MacKay (@JimMacKayOnAir) reports.
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