Milford Schools Are Educating Fewer Students at Higher Cost. Here's What the Numbers Show.

The Milford Board of Education has proposed an operating budget of $118,952,091 for the 2026-27 school year, a 4.328 percent increase over the $114,017,417 the board adopted for the current year.

Over the same period, the district projects total enrollment will decline to 5,042 students, down from 5,132 the previous year. That continues a trend the district has tracked for six years: in 2020-21, Milford Public Schools had 5,397 students. The 2026-27 projection of 5,042 represents a loss of 355 students, or 6.6 percent, over that period.

Both figures come directly from the Milford Public Schools 2026-2027 Proposed Budget document published by the Board of Education in January 2026.

This article presents what those budget documents show. It does not draw conclusions about whether the spending trajectory is appropriate, sustainable, or excessive. Readers are encouraged to review the source documents themselves and form their own judgments.

The Headline Numbers

According to the BOE's 2026-2027 Proposed Budget Summary, here is how the district's operating budget has grown alongside its declining enrollment:

Over the seven-year span, the BOE operating budget has grown by approximately $21.4 million, or about 22 percent. Enrollment has declined by 355 students, or 6.6 percent. The per-pupil cost has grown 30.5 percent.

The Total Education Cost Is Higher Than the BOE Operating Budget

The BOE operating budget is only part of what Milford spends on education. According to the budget document, the city separately funds several large education-related expenses that are not included in the BOE's operating budget number. For the 2025-26 school year — the most recent year with complete figures — those city-funded expenses included:

• Health Insurance for school employees: $21,393,908
• School Debt Service (bonded school construction): $6,533,005
• Pension, FICA, and Benefits: $1,487,752
• Health Services (school nurses): $1,545,020
• Audit Fees: $40,000

When combined with the BOE operating budget, the total Milford education spending for 2025-26 was $145,017,102. The per-pupil cost on that combined basis was $28,257.

The budget document does not yet show the equivalent total for 2026-27 because city-side figures will be set later in the budget process.

What the BOE Says Is Driving the Increase

The 2026-2027 proposed budget identifies four primary drivers of the $4.9 million increase. The following figures and explanations are taken directly from the budget document's executive summary, attributed to Superintendent Anna Cutaia:

Salaries and benefits: $4,314,981. Cutaia writes that 77.04 percent of the total budget is made up of salaries and benefits, and that the increase in those line items accounts for 3.784 percentage points of the 4.328 percent total budget increase. The single largest contributor within this category is the first year of the new teachers' contract, which the budget document attributes $2,240,875 of the increase to.

Special education services: $1,506,704. The budget document breaks this down as $1,263,780 for out-of-district tuition and $242,924 for transportation and contracted services. The document notes that special education obligations are governed by federal and state law.

Retiree health insurance: $838,729. The document identifies this as a projected increase, noting that the BC/BS over-65 line item rose 21.2 percent in the proposed budget.

Utilities and contracted maintenance: $251,591. The document describes these as systemwide cost increases comparable to those experienced "in other industries and in our personal households."

According to the budget document, these four categories together account for approximately $6.9 million in increased costs — more than the total $4.9 million increase the BOE is requesting. The difference is absorbed through reductions and savings elsewhere in the budget.

What the BOE Says It Is Cutting to Keep the Increase Down

The budget document states that $1,741,679 in savings was identified across various accounts to offset systemic cost increases. Specific items the document lists as reduced, deferred, or eliminated from the proposed budget include:

• Musical instruments (the document notes the amount has been "significantly reduced for three years")
• Updated student desks and chairs (deferred for three years)
• Expansion of world language offerings (deferred for two years)
• Computer equipment for specialized courses
• Teacher laptop updates (described in the document as "extending beyond useful life")
• Chromebook lease (also described as "extending beyond useful life")
• Network upgrades (deferred for two years)
• Professional learning (reduced)
• Curriculum development (reduced)
• Teacher in Residency program (deferred for two years)
• Capital equipment (multiple years)
• Pottery wheels

The document also notes that "this budget does not meet the growing facility and grounds needs of our school buildings" and that facility line items are "nearly flat-funded" because the district anticipates addressing those needs through the separately approved Long Range Facilities Master Plan.

In her budget message, Cutaia writes that "for the past three consecutive school years, we've realized $2,821,751 in reductions to our proposed budgets" and asks: "how we can budget for continued growth and innovation while being sensitive to the economic strain we are all feeling across the city."

What the BOE Is Adding

The budget document identifies several new investments included in the 2026-27 proposed budget:

• Armed School Security Officers at elementary schools and The Academy: $527,799 in salaries and benefits, plus $38,601 in uniforms and supplies and $10,000 in training
• An after-school academic support program for high school students: $30,000
• Project Read AI literacy tool: $15,000
• No Red Ink writing tool: $27,000

State Funding Has Been Effectively Flat

Connecticut's primary mechanism for state aid to local education is the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant. According to the budget document's Appendix G, Milford's ECS allocation has been essentially flat over the same period the budget has grown:

The 2026-27 ECS allocation is identical to 2025-26 and approximately $400,000 lower than the 2020-21 figure in nominal dollars. The budget document notes that "The potential of decreases in state and federal funding, including the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant, will significantly" affect future budgets.

The Long Range Facilities Plan Adds a Separate Variable

On May 11, 2026, the Board of Education voted 7-2 to adopt the Long Range Facilities Master Plan, a separate 20-year capital plan that calls for the eventual closure of three schools and the rebuilding or substantial renovation of every remaining school in the district. Perkins Eastman, the consulting firm that developed the plan, estimated the total cost at between $1.49 billion and $1.68 billion.

That plan is not included in the operating budget figures discussed above. It will be funded year-by-year through a separate capital improvement and bonding process that requires approval from the Board of Finance and Board of Aldermen. School Debt Service, which appears in the city's separately funded education expenses, currently runs $6.5 million annually and would be expected to grow over time as new bonds are issued for the construction plan.

What Happens Next in the Budget Process

The BOE's proposed operating budget now moves through Milford's standard budget approval cycle:

• The Board of Finance reviews the BOE request and the city budget together, and issues a recommended budget
• The Board of Aldermen reviews the Board of Finance's recommendation and adopts a final budget
• Public hearings are held at each stage

The Board of Aldermen has the final authority to adopt the budget, though it cannot reduce the BOE allocation below the Minimum Budget Requirement set by Connecticut state law, which generally prevents reductions below the prior year's funding level.

The current year's adopted BOE budget of $114,017,417 was itself the result of a process in which the BOE's original proposed budget faced reductions during city review. According to comments made by BOE Chair Susan Glennon at the May 11 Board of Education meeting, then-Alderman Tony Giannattasio made the motion in 2023 to restore a $1.8 million reduction to the BOE budget on the condition that the district develop a long-range facilities plan — the plan that was ultimately adopted three years later.

Source Documents

Readers who wish to verify the figures presented in this article can review the source documents directly:

• Milford Board of Education 2026-2027 Proposed Budget (114 pages), published January 2026
• Mayor's Proposed Budget 2026-2027, published January 29, 2026
• Both documents are available through the Milford Public Schools and City of Milford websites

The Board of Education's next regular meeting is Tuesday, May 26.