1 of 19

Pittsfield Public Schools

1

FY27 Draft Operating Budget

March 11, 2026

Bonnie Howland, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance

Enclosure No. 2

2 of 19

FY27 Draft Operating Budget

2

Guiding Principles and Strategic Goals

PPS By the Numbers

Chapter 70 Budget Allocation

FY27 Proposed Budget

Fair Student Funding Workbook Review

3 of 19

Guiding Principles and Strategic Goals

3

“Student-based” vs. “Staffing-Based” Budgeting – Equity as the focus

Fair Student Funding with student-based weights
Stability floors have been established as part of the allocation

Strategic Mitigation with “Least Impact”

Attrition & Retirements
Class Size Review
Grant Maximization

Operational Alignment & Infrastructure

Middle School Reorganization
Differentiated Professional Development

Managing Fixed-Cost Drivers

Energy/Utilities: Projected 20% increase for Berkshire Gas and 12% for electricity
Insurance: 11% increase to Indemnity Insurance
Contractual Obligations: Roughly 80% of the total budget is tied to salaries and collective bargaining agreements

4 of 19

Vocational Funding and Other Revenue

4

Vocational student tuition billed

FY24 - $447,724
FY25 - $510,848
FY26 - $813,445
Rate not set for FY27

Medicaid Claims

FY24 - $530,299
FY25 - $603,752
FY26 - $535,296 (1st two quarters)

Grant funding used for staffing beyond Chapter 70 funding - $ 4,768,032

Continuing to evaluate funding

5 of 19

PPS By the Numbers (PowerSchool 3/9/26)

5

4,825

Students

1,738

Current Employees

(FTE)

14 School/Admin Facilities (3 rented spaces)

1.2M+ square feet of buildings

3,622 GenEd students

1,635

transported

663 Vocational

students

503 transported

549 SPED students

466 transported

5,300 Meals Served Daily

Breakfast and Lunch

6 of 19

Chapter 70 Budget Allocation

6

$ 68,855,061 Chapter 70

68,855,061 Chapter 70

$18,000,000 City of Pittsfield

000 City of Pittsfield

$ 86,855,061 Total Appropriation

86,855,061 Total Appropriation

7 of 19

FY27 Proposed Budget

7

$ 87,200,061	Proposed FY27 Budget - .4% Year-over-Year Increase from FY26 $ 86,855,061 Chapter 70 & City of Pittsfield $ 345,000 School Choice & Richmond Tuition
$ 2,668,706	Administration (Central Office, HR, Districtwide Technology)
$ 62,320,981	Instructional (Personnel, Supplies, Programs)
$ 7,376,312	Other School Services (Nurses, Bus Operations, Athletics)
$ 7,315,592	Operations & Maintenance (Technology, Custodial, Utilities)
$ 589,561	Fixed Costs (Indemnity Insurance, Employee Separation Costs)
$ 71,858	Adult Learning (Adult Education)
$ 235,787	Acquisition of Fixed Assets (Lease Space: Eagle Academy)
$ 6,621,264	Tuition Payments (SPED OOD, Vocational: Use Circuit Breaker)

8 of 19

8

9 of 19

FY26 to FY27

.4% Increase - $ 299,700

9

$ 86,900,361 $ 86,450,361 $ 450,000	FY26 Budget Chapter 70 Tuition Revenue	$ 87,200,061 $ 86,855,061 $ 345,000	Proposed FY27 Budget Chapter 70 Tuition Revenue
$ 2,356,949	Administration	$ 2,668,706	Administration (Central Office, HR, Districtwide Technology)
$ 63,449,007	Instructional	$ 62,320,981	Instructional (Personnel, Supplies, Programs)
$ 7,194,882	Other School Services	$ 7,376,312	Other School Services (Nurses, Bus Operations, Athletics)
$ 7,194,333	Operations & Maintenance	$ 7,315,592	Operations & Maintenance (Technology, Custodial, Utilities)
$ 506,881	Fixed Costs	$ 589,561	Fixed Costs (Indemnity Insurance, Employee Separation Costs)
$ 71,163	Adult Learning	$ 71,858	Adult Learning (Adult Education)
$ 234,787	Acquisition of Fixed Assets	$ 235,787	Acquisition of Fixed Assets (Lease Space: Eagle Academy)
$ 5,892,359	Tuition Payments	$ 6 ,621,264	Tuition Payments (SPED OOD, Vocational, Use Circuit Breaker)

10 of 19

Proposed FY27 Budget Numbers

10

Administration: Central Office, School Committee, Legal Settlements, Special Projects, Districtwide Technology

Increase of $311,757 - 13.2%

Instructional: Administrators, Teachers, Paraprofessionals, Curriculum, Supplies, Technology

Decrease of $1,128,026 -1.7% - Result of class leveling, review of staff roles, maximize vacancies

Other School Services: Bus Operations, Nurses

Increase of $181,430 - 2.5% due to contractual obligations and increased transportation costs

Operations & Maintenance: Technology, Custodial

Increase of $121,259 - 1.7% due to contractual obligations and increased technology renewal costs

Fixed Costs: Insurance, Employee Separation Costs Adult Learning: Adult Learning Program

Increase of $82,680 - 1% due to increased costs Increase of $695 - 1% due to increased costs

Acquisition of Fixed Assets: Lease space for Eagle Academy and Tutoring Space

Increase of $1,000 - .4% increase due to potential monthly lease increase

Tuition Payments: Vocational, Special Education

Increase of $728,905 - 12.4% - Circuit Breaker funding will offset the high cost of SPED tuition

11 of 19

Fair Student Funding Rollout

11

Schools were tiered based on accountability scores.

Tier I: Capeless - Egremont - Williams

Tier II: Allendale - Stearns

Tier III: Conte - Crosby - Morningside

The formula was revisited and revised throughout the review process to refine the allocation of funds in an equitable fashion.

12 of 19

12

13 of 19

13

14 of 19

14

15 of 19

15

16 of 19

Fair Student Funding Allocation Review

16

For schools with larger allocations, once teacher-student ratios and classroom allocations were leveled and school building strategic funding applied, remaining funds were used to help balance the district’s deficit, support equity across schools, and advance districtwide strategic initiatives.

Topics that were discussed during review of allocations (not an exhaustive list):

Dean’s transition to Assistant Principals
School Adjustment Counselors’ role and responsibilities
Projected enrollment and class size maximization
Determination of whether a school’s allocation is sufficient for academic improvement
Impact of proposed staff adjustments to schools
Impact of school choice and intradistrict transfers

Strategic initiatives were discussed for the secondary schools and the two Community Schools.

Professional development
High Quality Instruction Materials
Content leads
Tier II programming / Continuum of services

17 of 19

Potential Staffing Adjustments due to

Enrollment/Workbook Review

17

Net reduction: 21.5 FTEs
Some positions can cross K-12 and be considered for placement within a different building

18 of 19

Fair Student Funding Takeaways

18

The formula is not applicable to Crosby Academy and Eagle Academy due to the nature of the specialized programming.

Stearns Elementary and Egremont Elementary also needed additional support that was above their initial allocation.

The allocation process demonstrated where funding and resources are needed.

Workbooks have been reviewed with Principals, and account for teachers, support staff, supplies and miscellaneous costs (not the entire operating budget). Workbooks need to be reviewed now that initial funding has been allocated.

Further refinement of the allocation formula will happen for FY28.

19 of 19

Additional Considerations and Final Thoughts

This is a needs-based budget.

If full funding is not achieved, we must, at a minimum, ensure an appropriate level of service, including effective service delivery, reasonable class sizes, and sufficient funding to meet our obligations.

The budget now needs to be reviewed and refined line by line.

School workbooks will be reviewed again to address requests.

Because a need goes unfunded, does not mean the need has gone away.