Last night, the Montclair Board of Education approved the district’s $179 million budget for the 2026–2027 school year, finalizing a spending plan that includes millions in cuts, staffing reductions, and another significant tax increase for local homeowners.
According to local resident and budget observer Michael Crowley, the meeting itself was relatively brief, but it included several important updates related to staffing cuts, the district’s long-term financial outlook, and ongoing efforts to stabilize Montclair Public Schools financially.
Most notably, Superintendent Ruth B. Turner said the district expects the number of employees directly impacted by layoffs to be significantly lower than initially feared.
While the district had previously discussed roughly 36 staffing cuts, Crowley noted that Turner said the number of affected employees has now been reduced to 16. The reduction does not reflect the restoration of positions, but rather the district’s expectation that a number of impacted staff members can be reassigned into existing or anticipated vacancies created through retirements and resignations.
The district had also proposed roughly $6 million in cuts overall, including a 60% reduction in funding for school-sponsored co-curricular activities — clubs, activities, and other student programming — bringing that budget line down to about $126,000.
Another controversial decision involved the district’s forensic audit. The Board approved reducing the audit allocation from $500,000 to $250,000 — a move that generated significant pushback from some families and residents who see the investigation as critical to rebuilding trust and understanding how the district’s financial problems developed.
Turner has said she still believes a meaningful forensic audit can be completed at the lower cost, while also acknowledging that these investigations can quickly expand in scope and expense.
Even with the cuts, the approved budget still comes in about $7.5 million higher than last year’s spending plan.
That’s largely because of structural expenses the district says are outside of its control — including rising healthcare costs, pension contributions, transportation, and debt obligations.
And yes, that means higher taxes.
The average homeowner is expected to see an estimated school tax increase of about $851 under the approved budget. That increase comes despite voters recently rejecting an ongoing tax increase during March’s special school referendum.
Part of the reason the district can still exceed the state’s typical 2% cap on school tax increases is because of a healthcare waiver, which allows districts facing major spikes in employee health insurance costs to raise taxes beyond the standard limit.
This latest increase would also come on top of the average one-time tax increase of just over $1,100 approved by voters earlier this year as part of the March referendum.
During the budget process, Turner framed the moment as part of a larger effort to stabilize the district financially while preserving educational quality.
“We did not choose this moment,” she said, “but we are responsible for how we lead through it.”
