Board of Ed adopts schools budget for 2026-27

Bedford Village Elementary School

By JEFF MORRIS 

The Bedford Central Board of Education voted to adopt the superintendent’s proposed 2026-27 budget at its April 22 meeting. The budget totals $165,895,484, up $4,989,984, or 3.10%, from the current $160,905,500. It remains below the tax cap.  

The budget will now be the subject of a public hearing on Wednesday, May 6, and go before the voters Tuesday, May 19.

This last presentation was largely a recap of what had previously been discussed. Superintendent Robert Glass said there had been a lot of communications since he first presented the budget proposal and since the deliberations that took place two weeks previously, with many questions and emails.

“I’m very proud of the community and very proud of this board,” he said, noting it was an example of civil public discourse, even though not everybody agreed and there were a lot of strong opinions.

Glass said they are going to close a $5 million gap, as was the goal, and are going to use about $800,000 out of the fund balance, “which is not an exorbitant amount given the overall size of the budget and the gap we have to close.”

The budget will maintain the four-day elementary art, music and P.E. rotation rather than change to the five-day rotation Glass had originally proposed in order to reach compliance with state physical education guidelines. That change was made after considerable pushback from board members and others.

There will be $250,000 added to the Capital Projects fund to enhance maintenance, and $50,000 will be added in resources to implement recommendations in the DLBE study, bringing those resources up to $150,000.

A social worker will be added at Fox Lane Middle School, for $125,000, and another $125,000 will be in the budget for a contingency position in case of enrollment change.

A nurse coverage adjustment at FLMS will be budget neutral, while there will be a reduction of $108,000 with elimination of two elementary computer aides. Elementary aide positions will be further reduced by eight owing to a slight change to staffing formula, offset by increasing lunch aides from another fund, with a net $282,000 reduction.

Other reductions will be accomplished by eliminating an unfilled assistant director of facilities position, for $150,000; eliminating the recently vacated benefits coordinator position in HR, with functions transferred to payroll & benefits  in the Business Office, for $88,000, as well as a senior bookkeeper position.

Athletic cuts

A stipend for an athletic seasonal game/equipment manager will be cut, but a portion of these funds will be maintained if additional staffing is needed for the bond-funded fitness center. Also added to the budget is a JV Flag Football team, while a merged girls golf team is converted to a stand alone BCSD team. And $20,000 is budgeted to conduct a Transportation Efficiency Study to identify transportation efficiencies to reduce future expenses.

Glass pointed out again that there will be no change to the arts and music program at the high school or the middle school, and that elementary art and music will be maintained every fourth day. He said per the contract, art teachers will not have extra planning periods unless logistically required. Glass said they had realized that historically, art teachers had some extra planning periods, but it was important to make sure everybody is scheduled equitably. He said before and after school programs will be maintained, as will after school enrichment programs.

Assistant superintendent for business and operations, Jose Formoso, summarized the budget. Under the proposed budget, the school tax levy will be $149,468,630, an increase of $3,809,421, or 2.62%, from 2025-26’s levy of $145,659,209. Expenditures in the budget match total revenue. 

Formoso explained that if the budget does not pass, the district’s options are to revise or resubmit the operating budget for a revote on June 16, or go to a contingency budget, which it would have to do if there are two budget defeats. According to education law, $3,809,421 would need to be removed from the proposed budget, with cuts from all three components — administrative, program, and capital — of the budget. To ensure no tax levy increase, interscholastic athletics, extracurricular activities, and field trips would likely need to be cut, and a $750,000 transfer to capital would be removed, along with reduction of equipment expenditures.

Social worker added

Formoso observed that the only real change to the budget was the addition of the FLMS social worker. Unlike at previous budget sessions, there were no questions from the board. But President Gilian Klein noted she reads every email the board receives, and felt like “when we come back to a meeting with a similar plan to the last plan, I would imagine lots of community members feel they weren’t truly heard.” She said they were heard, but in looking at the bigger picture felt like the changes are necessary.

Klein said she hoped the change back to a 4-day rotation was acknowledgment to the public that art is a core element, not an extra, and that other changes due to declining enrollment were not actually reductions in instructional time. Trustees Prasad Krishnan and Leo Sposato looked for assurances that the district would make changes as necessary should enrollment or results warrant it. Glass said the district would remain flexible to the extent possible, while cautioning against the temptation to not follow class size guidelines, which he said had led to some of the problems they now face.

A public comment period focused exclusively on the budget was opened, with a single parent speaking about the importance of smaller class sizes. The board then voted unanimously to accept the budget.