Every school in BPS has its own budget. Almost two-thirds of BPS’s money is spent on school budgets. The majority of dollars outside of “school budgets” fund people and things you see when you walk around a school, such as custodians, buses, and Special Education staff. Those types of expenses are paid for by a central budget. The Superintendent’s team, the legal office, and other funding buckets typically associated with the “central office” portion of the budget make up 5% of the $1.3B general fund budget.

The United States Congress set aside $13.2 billion of the CARES Act for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. This funding provides local districts with emergency relief funds to address the impact of COVID-19. BPS received $32.3M in supplemental funding; this multi-year grant can be used through FY22. We allocated approximately $5M to private and parochial schools based in Boston per federal requirements. We are utilizing CARES Act funding for summer learning opportunities and personal protective and health equipment.

In addition, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA), was signed into law on December 27, 2020, and provides an additional $54.3 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER II Fund). BPS is set to receive approximately $123 million from ESSER Part 2 funding; this multi-year grant can be used through FY23.

BPS uses Weighted Student Funding to determine each school’s budget, calculated by the number of students attending each school and their individual learning needs.

In Boston, we believe in giving families a voice in where their students attend schools. This family choice is only possible by allowing dollars to follow students. For schools with declining enrollment, we have implemented a number of resources and supports, including “soft landings,” so there will be no impact on the school’s budget for the first 2% of enrollment decline. There is also a dedicated reserve that specifically supports lower-performing schools with larger enrollment declines.

This year, we have taken additional steps to support schools experiencing declining enrollment in order to mitigate the negative impacts COVID-19 has had on our school communities. We provided $18.5M to schools with declining enrollment on top of our existing soft landings and Foundation for Quality. This investment is intended to ensure that schools are able to maintain level services and supports to their students, regardless of enrollment declines.

For next school year, our appropriation from the City of Boston will grow by an estimated $36 million. Under Mayor Walsh’s leadership, the City’s allocation to BPS has increased by $357 million over the last seven years. Despite a projected student enrollment decline of 2,286 students this year, the FY22 budget proposal reflects an increase in per-pupil spending from approximately $16,500 in FY14 to $23,500 in FY22 due to significant student-based investments, including extended school days, nurses in every school, and Universal Pre-Kindergarten.

Our goal is to ensure that every child, every classroom, in every school of the Boston Public Schools system has the same opportunity to achieve greatness within them as anybody else. Our investments are focused on strategies that positively benefit students. Strategies include prioritizing students with the highest need, supporting students by supporting families, improving instruction, closing achievement gaps by increasing the skills and support to teachers, expanding student access to technology, and shifting the way we approach literacy instruction.

The FY22 recovery budget proposal includes an expansion of the FY21 investment in social workers and family liaisons. Seventy-eight percent of social workers hired in FY21 were persons of color and coordinated services and support staff to serve students more effectively. Social workers contribute to the development of a whole-school approach to ensure all of the adults work together to remove barriers to student success. 

Family liaisons help to build relationships with students, families, and school communities. Ninety-eight percent of the family liaisons hired in FY21 were persons of color, who reflect the cultures and speak the languages of the communities they serve. Family liaisons have helped parents and caregivers navigate challenges presented by the pandemic. Family liaisons reach out to families and students with inconsistent or low online attendance rates and connect families with community resources for needs like housing, food access, counseling, and more.

The $36 million increase in this year’s proposed budget includes the second year allocation committed by Mayor Walsh last year. That $100 million commitment is phased in over three years to reach an annual investment of $100 million for direct classroom funding over and above cost increases.

This investment will expedite the benefits that Boston students will experience once the Student Opportunity Act goes into full effect in the next seven years by putting this direct investment in our school systems. Once fully implemented, the Student Opportunity Act will benefit Boston’s students with $100 million in additional funding per year.