Greenwich School Board Pitches $207 Million Budget to BET
Board of Education · Meeting of January 27, 2026
Greenwich school board pitches BET a $207 million budget, below the panel's own guidelines. Board of Education Chair Mike and Dr. Jones told the Board of Estimate and Taxation the proposed fiscal 2027 operating budget increases spending by $6.2 million, or 3.13 percent, over a revised base of about $200 million, versus the BET's 3.25 percent guideline.
The board approved the proposal 7-1 in December. Transportation costs rose 18 percent and, with contractual salary increases, account for $7.5 million in new spending; the district is cutting 11.5 full-time positions and $500,000 from summer school even as summer enrollment grew from 549 to 830 students. Capital requests total $17 million against $91 million in ongoing projects, including the soon-to-open Central Middle School, called "the most significant capital project in the history of the town." Finance committee chair Sophie Coven presents to the BET next week.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 916 words
Source: the Board of Education meeting of January 27, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
GREENWICH — January 27, 2026 — Board of Education Chair Mike told the Board of Estimate and Taxation Tuesday that the district's proposed 2026-27 operating budget represents a $6.2 million, or 3.13 percent, increase over this year's revised spending base, slightly below the BET's own budget guidelines.
The board also outlined $17 million in capital requests as construction continues on the new Central Middle School, on track to open this fall, and as Old Greenwich School prepares to begin a renovation project in April. No formal votes were taken during the presentation itself, which was devoted to walking BET members through enrollment trends, achievement data and the operating and capital budgets ahead of a full day of budget hearings next week.
The Full Story
Board of Education Chair Mike opened the presentation by framing the budget around the district's recovery from pandemic-era learning loss, telling BET members that Greenwich was among the first districts in the state to erase the learning gap at nearly every grade level. He was joined by Dr. Jones, who presented the district's enrollment, achievement and budget detail for most of the meeting.
Jones told the board that Greenwich Public Schools enroll about 75 percent of the roughly 11,000 to 12,000 school-age children in town, and that the district's diversity rate has grown from about 6 percent in 1980 to 41.2 percent today. Enrollment trends are diverging by grade level: kindergarten-through-fifth-grade enrollment is projected to grow by 160 students as birth rates and in-migration rise, while enrollment in grades six through eight is expected to fall to about 1,700, a loss of 375 students, and high school enrollment is projected to drop by 399 students to 2,400.
On the operating side, Jones said this year's approved budget of $198,382,430 was increased by $2.5 million through a one-time non-lapsing account to cover a transportation contract, producing a revised base of just over $200 million. The BET's own guidelines, approved October 21, called for a 3.25 percent increase, or $6.5 million, over that base. The board's proposed budget instead increases spending by $6.2 million, or 3.13 percent, bringing the total to just over $207 million. Jones said the two largest cost drivers, contractual salary increases and transportation, together account for $7.5 million of new spending, with transportation costs alone up 18 percent. The budget also includes reductions of 11.5 full-time positions tied to declining enrollment and a $500,000 cut to summer school spending, even as summer school enrollment grew from 549 students to 830 students last year.
Chair Mike said the board approved the operating budget proposal on a 7-1, bipartisan vote in December. He said Sophie Coven, the board's vice chair and chair of its finance committee, will present the budget to the BET for a full day of hearings next week.
On the capital side, Mike said the district has $91 million in open capital projects, 67 percent of it managed by six active building committees. Central Middle School, which he called the most significant capital project in town history, is on schedule to open this fall. Julian Curtis School's renovation is ongoing and will bring the building to full ADA compliance, Old Greenwich School's project is scheduled to begin in April, and the Riverside School building committee has begun work on ADA compliance, security upgrades and renovation. Mike said the board hopes the BET will next year remove conditions tied to the Riverside project once municipal improvement requirements are met. He also said planning is underway on a high school pool project that could expand into a broader look at the surrounding campus, including the tennis courts and an access road.
"We're not proud of this proposal because of any percentage increase or guideline being met. We're proud of this budget because we feel that it very much represents our fundamental responsibility to support the achievement of potential of every individual student of Greenwich Public Schools." — Board of Education Chair Mike
"If you were here in 1980, the school looked very different. Your diversity rate in Greenwich was at around 6 percent. Now we're just over 40 percent, 41.2 percent." — Dr. Jones, who presented budget and enrollment data
"We went from having 549 students take summer school with us to 830 students. So we actually were able to provide more for our students and do it at a much more cost-effective way." — Dr. Jones
Why It Matters
The proposed $207 million operating budget and $17 million capital request will shape both classroom staffing and the tax rate the BET ultimately sets for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1. Declining enrollment in the middle and high schools is already driving position cuts, while growth in special education services is pushing staffing the other way, a tension the board says it manages through attrition rather than layoffs.
On the capital side, residents in Old Greenwich and Riverside will see construction activity begin or continue this year as those elementary schools move toward full ADA compliance, while Central Middle School's opening this fall closes out what the board called the town's largest-ever school construction project. The BET's budget hearings, which begin next week with a full day of testimony from finance committee chair Sophie Coven, are the next step before the guidelines translate into a final approved budget.
Key Motions & Votes
No formal votes taken at this meeting.
Source
Greenwich Community Television: Board of Education meeting, January 27, 2026