The Rye City Board of Education has received a proposed $116 million budget for 2026-27 that would increase spending by about 3 percent over the current budget.
Next year’s budget is designed to continue funding all current programs and services, while several cost cuts would allow for the hiring of additional staff and some infrastructure projects.
A public budget hearing is set for May 5. Community discussions are scheduled to run through May 14, and district residents are scheduled to vote on final approval of the budget on May 19. Any U.S. citizen 18 and older who has lived in the district for at least 30 days is eligible to vote on the budget and Board of Education candidates up for election.
This budget season is Tricia Murray’s first as Rye’s schools superintendent.
“The Data Queen,” as she’s been referred to, told The Record the budget reflects the qualitative and quantitative goals she and her team set in the strategic plan at the beginning of the year.
“Because we have this strategic plan … it’s allowed us to work very cohesively together as an administrative team this year, and I think that this budget really reflects those goals,” Murray told The Record.
One of the proposed cost cuts would involve downsizing classes at both the Milton and Osborn schools — which expect to see enrollment decreases — to fund one or two additional elementary STEM teachers.
“Keeping class sizes small is very important to us,” Murray said. “We’re looking at where (we can) reduce some sections, still keep class sizes small, and be able to kind of repurpose those positions to build our (STEM) program and expand it.”
If enrollment projections are correct, district officials plan to dissolve one fourth-grade class each at Milton and Osborn for the 2026-27 school year. Milton currently has four third-grade classes; next year, the students would be divided into three fourth-grade classes. At Osborn, there are five third-grade classes. Next year, the students would be divided into four fourth-grade classes.
This year’s third-grade class sizes at Milton are between 16 and 17 students, according to district data. At Osborn, each third-grade class has 17 children.
With the cutting of fourth-grade sections next year, class sizes are expected to increase to 21 or 22 kids per classroom. School board policy states that the district aims to maintain class sizes between 18 and 22 students at the elementary level.
Murray said the district has posted the elementary STEM positions internally, and the administration is now in the interview process for those roles.
During an April 14 budget meeting, Osborn School Parent-Teacher Organization Co-President Jen Cain said she was speaking on behalf of the Midland and Milton PTO co-presidents, and that she supported the proposed budget.
“There are so many moving parts, all the estimates and considerations that go into this,” she said. “We all whole-heartedly support the 2026-27 budget.”
The district plans to make additional budget cuts by not filling four open positions created by retirements and possibly other staff vacancies at the middle and high schools. The district is still waiting for final course selection numbers at Rye High School to determine how many positions they’ll leave unfilled next year.
In the proposed 2026-27 budget, employee salaries and benefits account for the district’s largest expense by far — around 76 percent of the total operating budget. Across all schools, the district intends to spend around $89 million on salaries and benefits for the upcoming school year.
The average teacher’s salary and benefits package hovers around $120,000 annually, according to Murray.
The district also plans to convert eight school clubs to team status, which would allow the district to support those teams financially with supplies, entry fees, and travel costs. The clubs-turned-teams will be: Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Model UN, Robotics, Rhythm on Rye, Science Olympiad, Mathletes, Engineering, and Speech and Debate.
The district has allocated $75,000 for the new teams next year, which officials described as a small but important portion of the $116 million budget.
“It’s not a lot of money,” Board President Jane Anderson said during the April 14 meeting. But “it is a significant message to our students that the things that matter to them matter to the district, and that is really life changing for some of these kids.”
Another major line item in the 2026-27 budget is the $700,000 cost of a new roof for the Rye High School gym. The district also plans to allocate funds for Wi-Fi upgrades at the middle and high schools, and for new security camera systems at each of the elementary schools next year.
The district’s largest source of revenue each year comes from local taxes. For next year, officials estimate a 2.96 percent tax levy, which will likely raise more than $105 million for the district.
Before receiving the budget, board members emphasized their support for the changes while also acknowledging that the budget won’t allow for as many increases as they might have liked.
“It’s a lot of difficult conversations and creative problem solving to get to where we are for this budget, and in a very fiscally responsible way,” said Jennifer Boyle, board of education vice president, during the April 14 meeting. “That’s always the balance, because we want to give our kids everything we can, but we are also, rightfully so, concerned about our tax-paying community.”
One of the expenditures the district has had to scrap for next year is a new roof for the performing arts center. Murray said estimates for the roof “came in higher than we anticipated,” so the district was forced to table the project.
“Times are difficult for all districts,” Murray said, “and I would say any time you put a budget together right now with a tax cap, I think you’ve got to make some hard decisions.”
This story was last updated on April 28.
