Milton school leaders are moving to eliminate over $1 million from the upcoming fiscal year 2027 budget, a move described as a necessary reset to ensure the district’s long-term financial health. During a Wednesday evening meeting of the Finance Subcommittee, Superintendent John Burrows presented a plan to close a $1.049 million gap by reducing several administrative and teaching positions while simultaneously proposing fee increases to fund a new bus meant to clear student waitlists.

The proposed reductions target a mix of vacant and filled positions, including an equity coach, a special education teacher, and the director of performing arts. The district also plans to realign its nursing leadership and reduce the hours of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) coordinator. While the plan protects core classroom teachers in elementary schools, it suggests cutting three teaching positions at Pierce Middle School and Milton High School in non-core or elective areas. Burrows emphasized that these hard choices are designed to move away from the pennywise and pound foolish strategies of previous years, where one-time funds were used to cover recurring operating costs.

A significant portion of the discussion centered on rebuilding the district’s circuit breaker revolving account, which funds special education. Assistant Superintendent Katie Blake revealed the precarious state of the account, noting that the starting balance in the account was $8,000 despite a reimbursement target of $3.5 million. The administration aims to restore the account to roughly 75 percent of its full capacity over the next three years to provide a safety net against future shortfalls. Member Nathan David Hutto expressed caution regarding the speed of that restoration, suggesting that the district might ease the pain of current cuts by slowing the replenishment of those reserves. For me, a red line is dipping into circuit or the circuit ring built up to pay for operating, Hutto said. I wonder... if instead of saving a million dollars next year, we can save $700,000 next year... that's like a little sugar to help the medicine go down.

Revenue generation through fees also emerged as a point of contention. While the budget includes $75,000 in proposed fee increases, Member Mark Loring questioned the optics of adding a new bus at a cost of $100,000 while simultaneously cutting staff. I struggle with adding the bus for 100,000, increasing the fees for 75, Loring noted. I would kind of push us to think about increasing the bus fees for everybody at a rate that would cover the cost of the additional bus... that would be some additional revenue too. Loring also urged the administration to clarify that the proposed teacher cuts would not increase class sizes in core subjects, fearing the public perception of the move.

Chair Amanda Serio raised concerns regarding the sustainability of the new nursing model, which replaces the Director of Nursing with a lead nurse who also maintains an active school assignment. Do we have the capacity with the nurses and do we think that float nurse is enough to support that? Serio asked. Like is that a lot of work for one person to be a lead nurse and an in school nurse? Burrows acknowledged the difficulty but maintained the model is sustainable with the addition of a float nurse to support the staff. Burrows concluded by stating that fiscal stability is the primary goal: The consistency of how we can operate from a fiscal standpoint means that we can operate from a fiscal standpoint of stability and strategic thinking for teaching and learning.