Dear Fairport community, 

The Fairport Board of Education approved the District’s proposed 2026-2027 school budget at its business meeting on April 21, 2026. 

Over the past weeks, we have shared some of the challenges the District has faced in developing the 2026-2027 school budget. The proposed budget approved by the Board on Tuesday is the product of a rigorous and thorough accounting of the District’s projected revenues and expenditures and several strategies to mitigate fiscal gaps.

As we have shared, the District began this budget season with an approximate shortfall of $3.7 million, caused in part by inadequate state funding and the rising cost of health care. We are pleased to share that the budget approved by the Board yesterday is a balanced budget. 

Decisions surrounding budgets are deeply felt at every level of this organization and in turn by our Fairport families. Every member of our staff and administration team has kept the continued wellbeing of our students at the front of all decisions during this process. The Board and District leaders share a deep commitment to the work we have done to provide exceptional instructional and programmatic opportunities in a fiscally responsible way. We are confident that the 2026-2027 budget and the resulting shifts in programming will continue to provide an exceptional school experience for our Fairport students and meet the expectations of our community.

 

Since quantifying the $3.7 million budget gap earlier this year, the District has employed mitigation strategies affecting every part of this organization, including but not limited to:

• Maximizing the absorption of positions left open by retirements, including administrative roles, classroom roles and support staff
• Cutting five current positions, both instructional and non-instructional
• Decreasing the annual Facilities Department budget
• Reducing summer sentries and not hosting regional summer school 
• Managing non-instructional expenses such as utilities and fuel
• Cutting STAR summer camp 
• Making reductions by redesigning the District’s K-5 general education summer school  

Details of the proposed 2026-2027 school budget

The proposed $172,287,859 total budget equates to a 4.18% increase over last year’s budget and is in compliance with the Property Tax Levy Limit, which limits the amount of taxes an entity may levy based on a formula. That Tax Levy Limit may be higher or lower than 2%, depending on allowable adjustments or exemptions. The estimated tax rate in the 2026-2027 budget is a projected 3.30% increase.

You can find more information about the development of this proposed budget in the recording of the April 21 Board of Education Business workshop and business meeting. You can also find the answers to Frequently Asked Questions, breakdowns of the budget process and all of the District’s presentations to the public on our 2026-2027 Budget website here.

Items on the ballot for the May 19 public vote include:

• The proposed 2026-2027 school budget
• The election of three Board of Education members
• The election of one Public Library Trustee
• The proposed Fairport Public Library budget
• A proposition to authorize the appropriation and spending of funds from the “Bus Capital Reserve Fund 2002” and “Capital Bus Purchase Reserve Fund 2024” to buy buses for student transportation
• A proposition authorizing and directing the District to establish a capital reserve fund - “2026 Capital Building Reserve Fund” - to fund future construction and renovation of school facilities

Please join us at the Public Hearing on Tuesday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. in room 512 at FHS. The Public Hearing will also be broadcast live on the District’s YouTube channel.

If you have any questions about the budget process or the proposed 2026-2027 school budget, please email communityrelations@fairport.org. 

 

Sincerely, 

Brett Provenzano

Superintendent of Schools