At a recent Budget Summit, Belmont Public Schools proposed a budget that fits the town’s multi-year model developed for the 2024 override: totaling $70,629,379 and representing a 5.6% increase from fiscal year 2024.
According to a presentation by Superintendent Jill Geiser, the priorities from the district’s strategic plan guided the budgeting process.
“What they helped us do was really narrow in on what we are focusing on for our goals,” said Geiser.
Among those priorities are academic excellence and equity for all students, social-emotional well-being, belonging, and engagement, and family and community communication to support student learning.
Geiser identified budget increases, reductions, and position reallocations to create the current budget proposal.
In an interview with the Voice, School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty said it’s important to keep in mind that the budget is constantly evolving, and will continue to evolve with input from the community.
Budgetary Increases
The district is proposing a plan to maintain the staff positions that were added through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, which runs out this year.
Previous Coverage
- School Committee Reviews School Budget Draft for Fiscal Year 2026
- Community Presses for School Needs in the Face of Budget Challenges
The ARPA funding was intended to support towns and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the positions funded through ARPA that Geiser included in the budget are the equivalent of a full-time nurse, a full-time social worker for Chenery Upper Elementary School, two full-time social workers for Belmont High School, one full-time social worker for Belmont Middle School, and two elementary math interventionists, to provide additional support to students who encounter difficulties with math learning.
Geiser also proposed several increases to the budget, including additional funding for substitute teachers, online subscriptions to educational programs, curriculum maintenance, the district’s bus contract, equipment and copier maintenance, and technology.
According to Geiser, these increases are needed due to the growing costs of products and services, as well as being previously under-budgeted.
Geiser also included several programmatic increases in the budget, such as expanding in-district special education programming by promoting the elementary team chair positions to administrator status, adding a special education teacher to the Chenery Upper Elementary School, and contracting technology support.
Reallocations
To offset these costs, the district has proposed a set of reallocations.
A grade three teacher position would be reallocated to the grade four teacher position; a grade two teacher would be reallocated to a grade one teacher; a kindergarten teacher would be reallocated to an elementary math interventionist; a grade two teacher would be reallocated to a math interventionist; a grade five teacher would be reallocated to a social worker at the Chenery Upper Elementary; and a grade five teacher would be reallocated to a special education teacher at the language-based program at Chenery Upper Elementary School.
Furthermore, a campus monitor at Belmont High School would be reallocated to a social worker at Belmont High School, and a technology computer specialist would be reallocated to a nurse.
Similarly, some of the funding that goes towards the ski team, home tutoring, student activities, professional development, and instructional materials and supplies would be reallocated to two social worker positions at Belmont High School and Belmont Middle School, as well as to increases in technology, curriculum, transportation, substitutes, and copier maintenance.
Adjustments Proposed to the Finance Committee
During a finance committee meeting on Feb. 3, the district presented an adjusted budget that includes additional savings and reallocations.
The district estimated that there are possible savings from staff retiring after this year and from reducing the increase in substitutes to be more in line with the fiscal year 2025 quarter two actual expenditures. The total estimated savings is $214,999.
With those savings, Geiser proposed including a part-time elementary assistant principal position, a part-time district-wide nurse position, and a full-time district-wide psychologist position.
Based on conversations with school staff and members of the community, Geiser also proposed a couple of additional reallocations.
These include reducing the special education inclusion specialist positions at Burbank and Butler Elementary Schools to part-time and adding a part-time counselor position at each of those schools.
Next Steps
On Feb. 25, there will be a public budget hearing. More information on the Feb. 25 public budget hearing will be posted on the School Committee’s website, and members of the community are encouraged to attend and provide public comment.
Then, on March 11, the School Committee will vote on the revised budget. The final budget will be published on March 21.
