Chelsea Public Schools (CPS) is required by the City Charter to balance its budget to the Governor’s budget even though on many occasions the budget adopted by the Legislature and ultimately approved by the Governor may be different in small and large ways. Each year, the District receives the Governor’s proposed budget in January, most often during the 4th week of the month per the statutory deadline. Each year, CPS staff will develop projections for cost increases based upon contractual obligations, anticipated cost increases such as health care costs, and new initiatives, and determine how much projected expenditure differs from revenues. At that point, the process of determining how to balance the budget begins. The Superintendent will meet with school principals and union representatives, and then host a community meeting to gather input into the preliminary balancing plan. Public input is gathered at a Community meeting, typically held in February, at school committee meetings in March and at city council meetings in May or June.

The budget for the 2025-26 school year is currently in development. See the dates and links below for opportunities to participate in the budget process:

• SY 2025-2026 Community Conversation - FY26 Budget | Monday, February 10 [Presentation]
• SY 2025-2026 Community Budget Presentation | Tuesday, February 25 [Presentation]
• SY 2025-2026 School Committee Budget Hearing | Thursday, March 13 [Presentation]
  
• SY 2025-2026 School Committee Budget Adoption | Thursday, March 27 [Adopted Budget]

 Prior year information can be found underneath the graphic below.

Budget Information

See the PDF files below for current budget documents for the 2024-25 school year. If you have trouble accessing these documents, click here.

Additionally, the budget documents for the 2025-26 school year are now available below (Last updated on April 1, 2025).

Please visit Archived Budget Information for documents released prior to SY 2024-25.