How our school budgets fit into the town budget process: Focus on Beecher Road School

Each spring, Woodbridge faces the challenge of funding public education while balancing the impact on local property taxes. Education represents the largest single component of the town’s operating budget, accounting for roughly two-thirds of total municipal spending when both the Woodbridge and Amity school districts are included. As a result, school budget requests play a central role in shaping the town’s overall tax rate, particularly as operating and health-care costs continue to increase.

This week, we focus on the Woodbridge School District including current budget planning at Beecher Road School and how those decisions factor into the town’s overall budget process.

Each year, Woodbridge develops its town budget through a multi-month public process that runs from January through May. While individual departments — including the Woodbridge Board of Education (WBOE) — prepare and submit their own budget requests, final spending decisions emerge through a series of reviews, recommendations, and public hearings involving the Board of Selectmen (BOS), the Board of Finance (BOF), and town residents.

The process begins in January, when the boards of Selectmen and Finance hold joint meetings with department heads to review proposed operating and capital budgets (see dates, below). These meetings are intended to identify major cost drivers, clarify assumptions, and allow governing boards to ask early questions. All departments are required to participate.

The WBOE budget request

For the upcoming fiscal year, the WBOE has submitted a budget request that reflects increases in salaries, benefits, and other personnel-related costs. According to the budget transmittal memo it submitted, the WBOE unanimously approved its FY 2026–27 operating budget request on December 15, 2025. The request totals $19,496,610, representing an increase of $970,755, or 5.24 percent, over the FY 2025–26 budget.

In its budget materials, the Board states that approximately 97 percent of the proposed increase is attributable to what it characterizes as “contractual” obligations. These include negotiated wage increases, payroll taxes, pension contributions, and health insurance expenses.

The Board’s accompanying budget FAQ explains that once positions are established, the district is legally required to fund the salaries and benefits associated with those roles. The Board notes that, from its perspective, this limits flexibility within the operating budget and means that funding reductions below the requested level would require significant adjustments.

Board of Finance request for flat-funding scenarios

As part of this year’s budget review, the BOF asked all town departments, including the WBOE, to submit a flat-funded, zero-percent increase budget scenario in addition to their requested budgets. Departments were asked to describe how holding spending level would affect operations. Finance board members indicated during discussions that submissions without this information were considered incomplete for review purposes.

According to statements made during BOF meetings, the request was intended to provide additional context for budget deliberations by illustrating how different funding levels would affect departmental operations and overall tax impacts.

Because education represents a substantial portion of the town’s operating budget, BOF members noted that understanding the operational implications of flat funding in the school budget is a key component of the town’s broader budget review.

The WBOE, while it did acknowledge this request from the BOF, did not submit a separate flat-funding model in its initial materials, instead emphasizing the contractual nature of most cost increases in its request.

Staffing, enrollment, and budget structure

During recent budget discussions, members of the BOF noted that while salaries and benefits for individual employees are governed by negotiated agreements, the total number of positions funded each year is established through the annual budget process. As with other town departments, staffing levels are reviewed and approved as part of the town’s overall budget deliberations.

In this context, BOF members distinguished between compensation, which is fixed for approved positions, and headcount, which is determined annually based on enrollment, programmatic priorities, and fiscal conditions. This distinction has been referenced in discussions of how the term “contractual” is used in budget materials, particularly in relation to understanding what options may be available during budget review.

District materials show that student enrollment has declined modestly in recent years, while overall staffing levels have remained largely stable. The WBOE reports that class size guidelines are not being exceeded.

Beyond core classroom staffing, the district funds a range of instructional and program-support positions, including interventionists, specialists, tutors, instructional coaches, and other support roles. These positions are part of the district’s educational program and service model and are considered as part of the annual staffing and budget review process.

Capital planning alongside the operating budget

In addition to the annual operating budget, Woodbridge maintains a multi-year capital plan, typically covering five to six years, to forecast major building, infrastructure, and equipment needs. Capital planning allows the town to anticipate large expenditures, manage borrowing, and spread costs over time.

The WBOE participates in this capital planning process for school facilities and long-term assets while the Amity Regional School District follows a separate capital planning process tied to the regional system. In its current materials, the WBOE indicates that elements of its capital request are being deferred, a decision that may affect the timing of future facility projects.

Next steps in the budget process

Joint meetings of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance to review departmental operating and capital budgets are scheduled for January 20, 22, 27, and 29, with a possible additional session on February 3 if needed. These meetings will mark the start of formal budget review, with all department heads required to attend.

Following those joint sessions, the Board of Selectmen is scheduled to develop and approve its budget recommendations at meetings on February 11 and February 17, with recommendations formally filed with the Board of Finance on February 20. The Board of Finance will then meet in early March to develop preliminary budget recommendations.

The preliminary budget is scheduled to be mailed and advertised on April 6, ahead of a public hearing on April 28, at which residents may ask questions and provide public comment. The budget will then advance to the Annual Town Meeting on May 18, where residents may also ask questions before the Board of Finance meets to set the tax rate for the coming fiscal year.

Coverage in the Woodbridge Town Chronicle’s Our Schools section will continue as the school budget moves through the remaining stages of the town’s budget process.