FY'26 Budget Document (December 10, 2024)

Wellesley Public Schools: Fiscal Year 2026 Budget

voted projects based on the Town’s Financial Policies and the financial outlook. As part of the annual submission to the state, the schools report the school related debt on the end-of-year report submission. In FY’25, the principal and interest debt payments are expected to total $22,089,267 for previously issued debt related to school projects. Below is a summary of the school-related debt payments over the past seven years.

In addition to these new debt payments, the Town will retire older debt. Additional information on the Town’s debt can be found on the Town’s Website under Finance. The town expenses are described in the Financial Section under Town of Wellesley. Fiscal Year 2026 General Fund Budget The district is sensitive to the Town’s fiscal short-and long-term challenges and developed a budget within this guideline while balancing the expectations of the community to provide an educational system that meets our core values of Academic Excellence; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; Commitment to Community; Value and Respect for Human Differences; and Caring and Cooperative Relationships. Each year the School Committee provides guidance to the Wellesley Public Schools administration for preparation of the budget. The FY’26 Budget is $94,266,709, an increase of $3,184,730 or 3.50% increase. School Committee Budget Guidelines: The following general guidance is meant to assist the Wellesley Public Schools administration in preparing the budget for Fiscal Year 2026. The School Committee has directed the administration to prepare three separate operating budgets: the first should represent a 3.25 percent increase over the FY’2025 budget to reflect guidelines voted by the Select Board. The second should represent a “level service” budget. The Committee would also like to see a budget that reflects the third year of the strategic priorities and other critical needs.

On October 29, 2024, the School Committee voted the Operating Budget Guidance for FY’26:

The Committee will strive to develop a budget at guideline while balancing the expectations of the community to provide an educational system that meets our core values of Academic Excellence, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

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