Voters in the Rome City School District approved a revised, $165.4 million budget proposal for the 2026-2027 school year by a margin of 1,104 to 1,065 votes on June 16.
Those preliminary results won’t become official until they’re approved by the school board at a meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on June 17.
The revised budget includes a 3.02% spending increase over the 2025-2026 school year and a 2.5% tax levy increase.
“On behalf of the board of education and the entire Rome City School District, thank you to everyone who took the time to vote and demonstrate continued support for our students, staff, and school community,” Superintendent Nerlande Anselme wrote in a letter to the district community.”
The district’s original proposed $165.6 million budget was defeated by a margin of 24 votes in the school elections on May 19. That budget proposed a tax levy increase of 2.89%.
After the original budget proposal was defeated, the district had three options: schedule a re-vote of the initial budget proposal; hold a vote on a revised budget proposal; or adopt a contingency budget that would have had to cut spending by about $1 million.
The revised budget includes new positions for an Academic Intervention Support math teacher, a biology teacher, a teacher assistant and another security position, positions that would have been cut under a contingency budget.
The original proposed budget included another new position, for a director of career development and fine arts. That position was eliminated in the revised budget that passed.
District officials said they listened closely to public feedback in putting together the revised budget.
“Your support of our schools and the four pillars of our strategic plan allows us to sustain and strengthen the programs, services, and opportunities that help every student thrive academically, socially and personally,” Anselme continued in her letter. “Together, we will continue shaping tomorrow, one student at a time.”
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Rome residents decide on revised school budget in narrow vote
Reporting by Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
