Wellesley Public Schools: Fiscal Year 2026 Budget
Town Issued Budget Guideline (After New Hires) Town Issued Budget Guidelines (All In) Less Budgeted New Hire Health Benefits
$2,960,164 or 3.25%
($27,500)
Guideline Balance for New Operational Costs
$2,960,164 - $27,500 = $2,932,664 or 3.22%
As this example demonstrates, a departmental budget guideline of 3.25% must be shared between increases in departmental operating costs and employee benefit costs when a department hires new staff. With an overall reduction in staff, the Select Board guideline of 3.25% is not impacted by health benefits. Revenue Summary: As a municipal school district, the main source of revenue for the operation of the Wellesley Public Schools is local property taxes and other municipal revenues. Other revenue sources include state education aid, commonly referred to as Chapter 70; fees and tuition collections applied as offsets to the general fund; and grant awards including donations. For budgeting purposes, the district has assumed level funding of Chapter 70 aid. Below is a summary of revenue sources to support the Wellesley Public Schools in FY’25:
Expected changes in revenue for fiscal year 2026 include the following:
Federal and state grant revenue is expected to decrease by $998,052. In fiscal year 2024, the district underspent a few grants that resulted in the unexpended balances being carried into fiscal year 2025. These revenue sources are not expected to be available in fiscal year 2026. We anticipate fully expending the current year Circuit Breaker revenue resulting in no expected carry- forward revenue available for FY’26. In projecting FY’26 Circuit Breaker receipts, we are assuming Circuit Breaker will be level funded. Although Wellesley received $15.3M in Circuit Breaker, budgeted offsets, and Chapter 70 funds in fiscal year 2025; the district relies on local revenue, mainly property taxes, to fund the Wellesley Public Schools. Below is the expected growth of the municipal contribution to the schools (less budgeted offsets):
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