Dear Belmont Community,
As we enter the new year, Belmont Public Schools is committed to strengthening connections with our families and community. To achieve this, we’re seeking your valuable insights through a survey on family communications. This initiative aligns with our third strategic priority: fostering effective family and community communication to support student learning.
Please share your feedback —it’s essential to helping us better serve you and your students.
Belmont Public Schools Family Communication Survey
The new year also brings budget updates following our recent presentation of the Proposed FY26 Budget (Memo and Presentation) at Summit III. This important meeting brought together members of the Belmont Select Board, School Committee, Warrant Committee, and Capital Budget Committee to discuss revenue forecasts and plan for the upcoming fiscal year. Our proposed budget reflects a careful alignment with our strategic priorities as outlined in our BPS Strategic Plan.
Academic excellence and equity for all students,
Social emotional well-being, belonging and engagement
Family and community communication to support student learning
This budget cycle poses unique challenges, particularly with the phase-out of ARPA funding, which was instrumental during the COVID-19 pandemic in supporting critical roles within our schools. Initially, these funds were allocated to fill urgent needs during a time of unprecedented crisis, covering 9.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) core positions such as social workers, nurses, and math interventionists. These positions, though initially funded as temporary measures, have proven to be vital to the fabric of our educational environment, significantly enhancing the way our schools serve students by addressing their academic and health needs comprehensively. Recognizing the critical nature of these roles in supporting our students' ongoing success and well-being, we have worked to identify alternative funding solutions to retain these essential services. These efforts are pivotal as we strive to ensure that our educational support system remains robust and responsive to the needs of all students.
This budget cycle also brings opportunities as we are proposing new investments to expand our language-based special education programming at the CUE. This past year, this new programming has been serving students in grades 4 and 5, providing students access to the same high-quality education as their non-disabled peers in a less restrictive environment. This programming enables students with disabilities to participate fully in the life of the school, including a variety of extracurricular activities, learning alongside their non-disabled peers, fostering a more inclusive community. Through the FY26 budget special education staffing additions, we will be able to build on this year’s successful launch by expanding to grade 6.
Resource management has been a key part of our budget process. This focuses on identifying operational efficiencies as well as reallocation of resources that allow us to leverage our resources to meet student needs. We have also explored innovative funding avenues, such as one-time funds for one-time expenses and revenue generation through a new fee structure. The budget process relies on examining how we are using our resources to ensure they are aligned with where the needs are.
Looking ahead, we will make further adjustments to the proposed budget in the coming months. Key dates include
February 25: Budget Public Hearing
March 21: Publishing the budget
March 27: Final FY26 budget Presentation at Summit IV
Early May: Final budget submitted to Town Meeting
This budget is our blueprint for supporting the educational growth and well-being of our students, and we are committed to ensuring it serves the best interests of our entire community. Thank you for your continued support and engagement in this vital process.
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Together, we can ensure a bright future for all students in Belmont.