BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga has proposed a more than $1.4 billion budget for the 2027-28 school year as the district works to address an $80 million deficit.
The proposal was presented during a special meeting on the 8th floor of City Hall. Mubenga stated that his goal is to keep the district fiscally sound for the next decade.
"We're going to have to address our deficit in a very meaningful way. My hopes is that we're going to get somewhere around $25 to $30 million deficit," Mubenga said.
The budget includes $8 million in special education investments, cuts to 51 full-time positions at the central office, and the closure of two schools.
Mubenga said the position cuts came after discussions with leadership at the central office and school level. He acknowledged the difficulty of the decision.
"Anytime you're cutting a position that's impacting people's livelihood, it's concerning, but at the same time, when you look at a deficit of $66 million, if we continue with that trend, we're going to be broke," Mubenga said.
BPS Chief Financial Officer Jim Barnes provided additional detail on the position cuts.
"43 of these were in the general fund and 8 in the grant fund. 36 were vacant. 15 were filled," Barnes said.
Barnes noted that full-time employees are by far the largest expenditure in the budget. He described the staffing reduction as a consolidation driven by declining enrollment; instead of two classrooms of 10 students, the district would have one classroom of 20 students.
"The overall reduction in positions is directly related to student enrollment declines, resulting in fewer classes. These reductions are enrollment-driven only. No instructional programs or level of student support have been reduced," Barnes said.
The budget also proposes rearranging class sizes. Mubenga said he would prefer smaller classes but that balancing the budget requires adjustments.
"For classrooms, we went from 19 to 21 to increase class size a little bit. I was doing my research here, just looking at New York. New York City schools, which pretty much drive the class average for the entire state," Mubenga said. "For the early elementary, they are 19.6 and for the high school is 24.5."
The school board is expected to vote on the proposed budget during a regular meeting next Wednesday.
