Boston City Council wraps four-part BPS FY26 budget review with no major objections

BOSTON — April 15, 2025 — Boston City Council committee closes out BPS FY26 budget hearings with focus on special education costs and federal funding risk. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Council Member Brian Worrell, held its fourth and final Boston Public Schools budget hearing Tuesday, examining a proposed $53.4 million spending increase that includes $22 million in new investments and $5 million in central office cuts achieved through the elimination of 24 positions and renegotiated contracts. BPS officials projected out-of-district special education tuitions will cost between $45 million and $50 million in FY26 — with transportation adding roughly $40,000 per student on top — while warning that full elimination of federal Title I funding could create a roughly $50 million hole. Council Member Edward M. Flynn pressed the superintendent on a long-pending memorandum of understanding between BPS and the Boston Police Department, which officials confirmed remains unsigned pending a School Committee vote on data policy scheduled for Wednesday. The district's technology revolving fund generated approximately $700,000 from the sale of retired devices in its most recent cycle, offsetting part of a roughly $5 million new device purchase financed through a city lease-purchase arrangement.