The Winslow Township Board of Education has approved a 2026-’27 budget that supports staffing needs and invests in technology, educational resources and performing arts.
A public hearing and final adoption of the financial plan came on April 29. School business administrator Tyra McCoy-Boyle had introduced the $135.5-million budget at a meeting on March 25.
The tax levy is $62.29 million – an increase of $6.4 million, or 11.59% – the amount homeowners would pay in school property taxes. An allotted 2% cap, a $4.2-million health benefits waiver and another $1.13 million in banked cap is included.
The district projects enrollment to increase slightly by 56 students to 4,856 in October. The “lion’s share” of appropriations is going to students and instruction, with $44.5 million for instruction and $17.2 million for tuition, McCoy-Boyle said.
Other appropriations include $11.3 million for operations and maintenance; $14.6 million in student support services; $8.4 million for administration and information technology (IT); $12.9 million for transportation; $23.9 million for benefits; approximately $1 million for capital outlay; $500 for interest earned on maintenance reserve; and $638,921 for transfer to charter schools.
The district plans to purchase four school buses that will be on a rotating schedule, adopt new textbooks, invest in technology software and continue its mental-health and behavioral services.
The budget includes $739,064 to partially repave the high-school parking lot and $381,050 to do the same at the middle school.
“Anybody that has parked on the backside of the (high-school) building, you can see how cruel this winter was to that parking lot,” McCoy-Boyle said.
The budget maintains no charge to participate in extra/co-curricular activities.
Revenue includes a total of $60.2 million in state aid, an increase of $3.4 million from the 2025-’26 school year; preschool aid of $3.8 million, an increase of $675,933; $5.5 million from the fund balance; $4.2 million in tuition; $980,000 in miscellaneous funds; and $19,963 in federal aid.
General fund appropriations include a $817,000 withdrawal from the maintenance reserve account.
McCoy-Boyle noted that health-benefit costs “skyrocketed,” from $19.4 million in 2025-’26 to $23.9 million this year. Funds for administration and IT decreased from $11.3 million to $8.4 million.
The municipal tax rate is $2.141, an increase of 1 cent per $100 of assessed valuation for 2026. The owner of a home assessed at $177,700 will pay $3,805 in yearly taxes, an increase of $226 from $3,579 in 2025.
Last school year, the district used a portion of its capital reserve for the HVAC unit at the middle school. And some $1.1 million in maintenance had to be withdrawn to restore parts of the middle school after a pipe burst there last September. Not all funds were covered through insurance, McCoy-Boyle noted.
The district had to replace 500 feet of pipe, almost the distance of two football fields. Both gym floors needed to be replaced and library repairs included new floors; walls; paint; and new furniture, Interim Superintendent Mark Pease shared in a recent “Winslow Ready” podcast.
Students returned to the middle school in January.
