Stoneham Public Schools Shares Update on 2024-2025 School Budget

STONEHAM – Superintendent David Ljungberg shares the following update on the development of the 2024-2025 school budget.

The District is currently working toward a budget reflecting a 3 percent increase ($1 million) for the coming school year, which will require cuts to existing programs and services, and potentially staff layoffs. The District’s budget, put forward by the School Committee in January, represented an 11.6 percent (~$4 million) increase in order to meet existing staff contractual obligations, address enrollment growth, increasing needs for special education services, rising out of district tuition costs, increased utility costs, and rental expenses for district office space.

However, the overall Stoneham town budget will hold the School District at a 3 percent increase while state support for local education is decreasing. The state is increasing its local aid for the coming year by $30 per student – about $73,000 — the minimum increase. This is compared to the additional $1.5 million the District received last year.

To meet the goal of holding next year’s budget to a 3 percent increase, Superintendent Ljungberg projects existing services would need to be reduced by $1.9 million, the equivalent of 25 full-time salaried positions, and many of the additional needs would not be addressed.

“With more than 80 percent of the budget consisting of staff salaries, there is little room to maneuver when costs and inflation rise,” Superintendent Ljungberg said. “I want to assure our school community that we budget prudently, and that we are just one of many districts facing difficult decisions this year.”

Superintendent Ljungberg will present a full list of proposed cuts (to reflect a balanced budget at 3% increase) to the School Committee on March 14, and will be meeting with stakeholders in the coming weeks to solicit feedback on possible next steps. The District will continue to seek outside funding sources to reduce the impact of any potential cuts.

Superintendent Ljungberg and the School Committee will hold a special public hearing on March 28 to explain the reduced budget. Members of the school community are invited to attend; there will be ample time for attendees to ask questions and share their thoughts.