Sisitsky’s Budget Proposal Includes $172.6M for Schools

FRAMINGHAM - Mayor Charlie Sisitsky's recommended city budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes $172.6 million for Framingham Public Schools (FPS).

During Wednesday night's School Committee meeting at the Memorial Building, Sisitsky told the group that their entire request is featured in his budget submission to the City Council for fiscal year 2025. The School Committee unanimously approved their $172.6 million request to Sisitsky during a meeting on April 3.

“That will be the third year in a row as your mayor that I’ve submitted a recommended budget for the school department that is consistent with the vote of the School Committee," Sisitsky told committee members on Wednesday.

The $172,609,620 budget, if approved, would be 4.74%—or $7,816,038—higher than the FY24 school budget. That FY25 figure includes approximately $86 million in aid from the state, though Section 70 assistance from the state only rose about $943,000 compared to last year’s budget.

That lack of additional state resources has made the process more difficult, according to local school officials. The budget process featured multiple revisions prior to Sisitsky's recent proposal, as the School Committee’s recommendation stood at about $176.1 million last month. Cuts to positions within FPS' Central Office, leveling most departments' budgets by providing the same amount of money that they got in FY24, and reworking costs for school transportation were the major changes made since then to get to the $172.6 million mark.

However, members of the School Committee have not been willing to dwindle down their recommended budget for the year ahead any further than that.

“This will stop the need to have to eliminate more positions," School Committee Vice Chair Jennifer Moshe of District 3 said, "and I think it’s so important that we keep as much staff as we possibly can to help our students.”

Some of those within the local school community, including a number of members of the Framingham Teachers Association, have called for a raise to the city’s tax levy in order to properly fund FPS operations.

The City Council will begin reviewing Sisitsky's recommended budget for FY25 during their meeting on Tuesday, April 30.