Boston schools approve $1.7 billion budget despite spending issues, dwindling enrollment

Even as enrollment falls and expenses rise, Boston Public Schools continues to pump up its budget numbers for the next school year – to $1.7 billion.

“I really feel it’s a time that both at the school level and at central office, it’s time for an audit,” said School Committee Chair Jeri Robinson, as reported by the local ABC affiliate. She added, “$1.7 billion is a lot of money.”

Meanwhile, the district is projecting an enrollment loss of at least 3,000 students “since the 2024-25 school year,” the affiliate noted.

This budget proposal, passed unanimously by the Boston School Committee on March 26, marks the first time central office-based spending would exceed school-based spending.

That didn’t sit well with Julia Mejia, an at-large city councilor. The City Council will begin deliberations on the budget this month, according to the article.

“In terms of central staff, I’ve always said we have to trim the fat from central staff and central budget, period,” she said. “I think that these dollars need to be directly in the classrooms, and I think that we need to do a better job at making sure that we’re supporting those folks who are doing the frontline work.”

‘I’m concerned about our kids’

Meanwhile, the district defended its central office outlays, arguing these also support students.

“Students are at the center of our work, which is why 90% of the BPS budget funds student-facing services,” said a district spokesperson.

“There have been some mischaracterizations, but our families need to know that the vast majority of the central office budget also funds direct student services, with positions like occupational therapists, physical therapists, a variety of special education-related service providers, speech pathologists, school custodians, bus monitors and more.”

However, critics such as Ross Wilson, the Shah Family Foundation’s executive director and a former district deputy superintendent, believe the budget would benefit from substantial reallocations.

“All of our investments should be going into teacher training, should be going into professional development for our staff and all of our staff members, and we should be implementing high-dosage tutoring in all of our schools, longer school days, summer school; whatever it takes to make sure our students are on track by grade three,” he told journalists.

Last year’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System showed less than a third of the district’s students “met or exceeded expectations” for language arts and math, the affiliate wrote.

“I’m worried that we have buckets of spending that are out of control at the central office, and I’m worried that schools will be cut more,” Wilson said. “So ultimately, as a parent, and as a taxpayer, and as a resident of Boston, I’m concerned about our kids, and I’m concerned about the future of our school system.”

As previously reported by The Lion, public schools have drawn increasing criticism for boosting nonteaching administrative positions even as student numbers decline.

“Since 2019, the total number of public school staff has risen from 6.5 million to 6.8 million, but teachers fill less than half of all open staff positions,” Heartland Institute editorial director Chris Talgo observed. “And they are now outnumbered by nonteachers on staff – 3.6 million to 3.2 million.”