Dear SPS Families,
I hope that the school year is going well.
I am writing to provide you with an update on the 2024-2025 budget. The district is prioritizing a 7.1% increase ($4,167,748) for next year. The goal of this email is to help families better understand what is in next year’s budget and provide some context.
This year, Stoughton has seen an increase in enrollment, resulting in more students overall. This includes growing needs for students with disabilities and for English Learners. The budget for next year includes four new special education staff members to create a new substantially separate program, helping us to serve Stoughton students in our own schools. It also includes contractual increases in salaries for our teachers, our paraprofessionals and our STA Unit B administrators, helping us to attract and retain highly qualified staff to better support our students.
The district is also experiencing some financial pressures. ESSER funding, or federal relief aid provided during the pandemic, will expire after this school year. As you all know, inflation has caused all expenses to increase, and this has also impacted salaries. The district is seeing an increase in PreK-12 enrollment, including in our migrant student population, and unprecedented pressures in special education, transportation, and services for English Learners. Our main priorities have been retaining teaching staff and supporting the large influx of students we received this year, including providing the English Learner services they require. In order to accommodate this increase in our student population, we have had to make adjustments throughout the budget. The situation remains fluid as we get more information and advocate for additional funding from the state.
Students and staff of Stoughton Public Schools remain the priority. We will continue to offer free busing and waive the fees for enrollment in fine arts and sports programs, and will look for opportunities to add back other programs as additional state funding becomes available.
I will keep you posted as updates become available. Thank you for supporting Stoughton Public Schools.
With Regards,
Joseph F. Baeta, Ed.D
Superintendent of Schools
Stoughton Public Schools
