South Country schools likely won’t get state Special Act funding, needs to make more budget cuts
During a meeting Wednesday, officials shared how they’ve already cut more than $8 million from next year’s school budget, but they are still going to be over $5 million short.
In a meeting Wednesday night, the South Country school board presented draft four of their 2026-2027 budget proposal. This comes after a lot of conflict over their millions of dollars in budget deficits.
During the meeting officials shared how they’ve already cut more than $8 million from next year’s school budget, but they are still going to be over $5 million short.
“I understand that there’s a great deal of frustration, anger, and concern in this room and at home,” said superintendent Antonio Santana. “People care deeply about our schools, and that’s very clear.”
The plan was to ask the state for Special Act Legislation that would finance the existing deficit over time. However, now it looks like they won’t get that funding for next year, and possibly not for this year either.
That means the district will have to take out a short-term loan to cover this year’s $8.7 million budget deficit. They will also have to raise taxes or cut more programs and positions to make up the deficit for next year.
“We’re no longer talking about efficiencies,” Santana said. “We’re talking about positions that can fundamentally and permanently change what our schools have to offer. That can potentially mean smaller classes, fewer teachers, fewer programs, fewer opportunities. And those aren’t changes that are easily undone.”
Community members are worried about how that could impact the classroom.
“The budget that was proposed Monday night has a list of things that could be cut that were very meaningful to my kids five, ten years ago,” said Dave Carlson, a parent of children who graduated from the district. “And I know how much those experiences mean to a well-rounded education.”
The state comptroller’s report that came out Friday confirmed the district underestimated costs and relied on savings to cover the gap which isn’t sustainable.
Former board president Gregory Miglino Jr. says it’s more than oversite, it could be fraud.
“The individuals in charge chose to cover it up or fraudulently propose budgets to the community that they knew were not true,” Miglino said.
He says the board misused funds in a way that could be a felony and that they presented a false picture to the public to get voter approval.
News 12 reached out to the board for comments on the fraud accusations and are waiting to hear back.
The board has to adopt a proposed budget by April 22 so they can present it to the community May 19.
