2026–27 Proposed Budget

The final budget is officially approved each fall after enrollment is finalized and state aid is confirmed. This budget was published on May 4; was subject to public comments on May 7, May 12, and May 26; and was passed by the Board on May 29.

During the planning process, we have gotten input through:

• Community budget meetings
• Board meetings and discussions
• A District Advisory Council meeting
• School Engagement Council presentations by principals
• Regular direct updates to staff, families, and partners
• Regular principal meetings
• Meetings with high school students and student groups
• Meetings with community stakeholders, including Wisconsin Policy Forum (which reviews the budget annually)

The administration presented the proposed budget at a Board meeting on May 7. A statutory public hearing took place on May 12. Public comments were taken at both of these meetings, as well as at an additional meeting on May 26. The preliminary adopted budget was passed by the Board on May 29.

Fewer families having children, stagnant state funding ($0 increase in general aid in the current state budget), and the expiration of federal pandemic aid are some of the biggest challenges. The recently completed 2024–25 audit showed a $46 million gap between expenses and revenue driven in part by higher than budgeted costs for food services and transportation. If we do not make changes, the money we spend (expenses) will be higher than the money we take in (revenues), and we are required by state law to pass a balanced budget that addresses this 2024–25 deficit. 

The gap between our expenses and revenues would be even higher without the voter-approved referenda. Milwaukee’s voters are helping make up for the fact that state funding has not been keeping up with inflation. Wisconsin’s largest school districts recently wrote a joint message calling for the state to use its multi-billion dollar surplus to return to annual increases in state aid tied to inflation, which existed for many years until 2009.

Pandemic-era funds were one-time funds that are not ongoing or distributed every year and cannot be used for future expenses.

The purchased services amount includes about $6 million in reduced contracts and $40 million in savings from charter schools moving to other authorizers. The deficit is one factor, but it is not the only factor in the budget. There are also increased costs for employee wages and benefits, utilities, transportation, and more, and these need to be addressed in addition to the deficit.

The district is prioritizing protecting classrooms while we also restore fiscal health. This allows us to manage and even reduce class sizes, responding to one of the most frequent concerns shared by families and staff over the past year. Smaller class sizes provide more one-on-one attention and are critical to helping all students learn to read. 

By saving about $30 million through reducing Central Services positions and non-classroom positions in schools (including 53 administrator/administrative positions and 53 assistant principals), we are able to both help address the deficit and redirect resources to the classrooms where they are needed most. 

This includes an estimated net increase of 159 classroom teaching positions and 414 paraprofessional positions, both of which are tied to the work to manage and reduce class size. 

Multiple recent audits of the district have found that we are overstaffed at Central Services compared to peer districts across the nation and other Wisconsin school systems. In addition, MPS has more assistant principals on a per student basis than many other large urban districts or other Wisconsin school systems. Our new ratio is one assistant principal per 350 students, which is stronger than most peer districts. 

The proposed budget increases classroom teaching positions to help manage and even reduce class sizes. The exception is where lower enrollment requires fewer teachers, as has been the district’s longstanding practice.  

Our priorities include protecting classrooms and investing in academic achievement. Principals have shared a presentation with their School Engagement Councils (SECs) and a letter with families outlining how the changes are affecting their schools. 

MPS and districts around Wisconsin continue to call for the state to use its multi-billion dollar surplus to provide increases in general aid as was done for many years prior to 2009—and we continue to call on the state to fulfill its promise to support more special education funding.  If the state adjusts its two-year budget and adds money for general aid or special education, it could provide a better budget scenario for all Wisconsin school districts.

No student will have to leave their current school. The district will work with schools that do not have room to add classes, as well as with schools that have programs that require different class sizes. Principals also have an opportunity to request critical needs not addressed by the guidelines.

At the February Strategic Planning and Budget meeting, the board approved investment in schools located in communities where there has been historic disinvestment. These schools include Brown Street Academy, Andrew S. Douglas School, Gwen T. Jackson Early Childhood and Elementary School, and Frances Brock Starms Discovery Learning Center. This investment comes from a separate fund that cannot be used for ongoing MPS expenses (like salaries or benefits), so it does not affect the budget gap. 

This will be one of a number of priorities we will need to plan for in 2026–27, alongside our focus on academic achievement and literacy, safe and welcoming schools, and efficient operations.

While recent referendum funding has helped stabilize our budget, that funding will not increase moving forward, and state aid has not kept pace with inflation. We have to recognize that we do not have a steady stream of future revenue to cover rising costs and account for this in our budget process. We will have a better idea of what future budgets will look like once the District’s five-year forecast is complete.

This is a statewide issue. Wisconsin set records for voter-approved referenda in 2024, the same year as MPS’s referendum. In December, a group of Wisconsin superintendents wrote a message noting that the state provided no increase—$0—in general aid for public school students in the current two-year state budget. In January, MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius joined the superintendents of the Green Bay, Kenosha Unified, Madison Metropolitan, and Racine Unified school districts in calling for a bipartisan solution to provide regular increases to school funding tied to inflation, as had been Wisconsin’s past practice. In May, these five superintendents called on lawmakers to come back to the table and find agreement on special education funding.