Once A Pandemic Casualty, School Budget Gets 'Significant' Bump

MEDFORD, MA — The city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic forced a level-funded budget for the Medford Public Schools last year, despite an anticipated increase of up to 3 percent in funding. On top of that, the district spent last summer narrowing a $3.5 million budget gap, attributed to rising contractual costs and a reduction in revolving funds.

It's expected to have more breathing room this time around, as the mayor's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes a 9.1 percent increase for Medford schools.

"I am so relieved and thankful to stand before you this evening with this promising news for our schools," Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said in presenting her proposal to the City Council. "In FY21 we assumed a 10 percent reduction in State Aid. We had to make difficult choices and ultimately submitted a level-funded budget for the Medford Public Schools. Fortunately, when we received State Aid numbers in late 2020 after the budget was adopted, we received encouraging information and were able to direct more Chapter 70 money to the schools."

The proposed school budget is about $68.2 million, versus $61.2 million last year.

"With a more stable financial outlook, I am proud to say that thanks to the hard work of Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marice Edouard-Vincent, the entire school administrative team,
and with the hard work and unanimous support of the Medford School Committee, we are proposing a significant increase to support our schools in the upcoming fiscal year," the mayor continued.

See the full budget proposal below: