Upcoming Budget Season Will Be Challenging: Stamford Superintendent

STAMFORD, CT — Stamford Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Tamu Lucero will present her proposed 2024-2025 budget on Jan. 16.

In her recent weekly message to the community, Lucero said the upcoming budget season will be "challenging."

"The 2024-25 budget must address the 'fiscal cliff' created in spring 2020, when, out of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, city boards cut $12.5 million from the district’s operating budget. Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds have been used to maintain programs and positions that otherwise would have been eliminated nearly three years ago, but that funding expires on June 30," Lucero said.

"The expiration of ESSER funds, combined with ongoing inflationary pressures, contractual increases in wages and benefits, and increased transportation and special education costs, has created a scenario in which SPS would require a budget increase of 9.85 percent to maintain all current programs, services, and staff next year. To put this in perspective, the average approved increase from city boards has been less than 3 percent annually since 2015."

Lucero noted that over the last few months, she's been working with the district's leadership team, including building principals, to develop her proposed budget.

"In developing this budget, our goal was to ensure that students continue to have access to programs and services necessary for a quality education while demonstrating that the District is operating as a responsible steward of the community’s tax dollars," Lucero said.

Unlike previous years, the district will not host listening sessions to solicit input about what should be added to the budget, Lucero noted.

"The fact of the matter is that the superintendent’s proposed budget for 2024-25 will include initial cuts of just under $7 million. These cuts will impact programs, facilities, and staffing across the district," Lucero said, adding that this will allow the district to go to city boards with a proposed increase that's more in line with requests from previous years.

"The superintendent’s proposed budget will be subject to review, revision, and approval by the Boards of Education, Finance, and Representatives, a process that takes several months. We all should be prepared for additional cuts at the end of that process," Lucero said.

Departmental budget presentations will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Lucero said there will be opportunities for the school community to offer feedback and ask questions about the budget before the Board of Education's public budget hearing on Feb. 1.