Madison Metropolitan Schools District’s board approved a budget increase for 2025-26 that reflects its plan for a 10% increase in revenue and expenses from last year.
The budget increased to $668 million comes as state aid for MMSD will decrease 19.5%. — nearly $12 million. An increase to the budget will allow MMSD to continue to have a strong financial footing, as it expected a budgetary shortfall of $64 million from the reduction of state aid and the expiration of previous COVID-related funds.
“We have worked really hard, especially with rising costs for health insurance and some other things that are out of our control, to prioritize our employees,” said Nichelle Nichols, MMSD board president, in a statement. “I’m really proud of the fact that we have a balanced budget, and that we are in a good position, as stewards of the referendum dollars that our community has entrusted to us, to move this district forward.”
In the budget, around 81% goes towards paying and supporting staff. It includes a 4.95% pay increase with a 2.95% base wage increase and incremental increases based on years of service.
Staff size has increased to 4,246, about 59 more employees compared to last year, as it has added more custodial staff to help care for newly and planned renovated buildings, additional substitute teachers and more staff to support early learning and multilingual education.
A total of $557.1 million is dedicated toward day-to-day operations of schools.
“For me, it starts with 4K, which I see as such an important introduction into our district, into community, into the way that staff and principals and teachers receive students and their families,” said Dr. Joe Gothard, MMSD superintendent. “A lot of the things that we’re investing in are going to continue to be tied to what our students and families desire, and ensuring that they know we’re making a sustained commitment to listening to them.”
Its total property tax levy will increase by about 20%. It will cost property taxpayers around 96 cents per $1,000 of property value.
