Shelton schools cut 14 positions while keeping sports, clubs and kindergarten

Budget compromise approved

The Shelton Board of Education has approved a revised 2026-27 budget that cuts 14 positions but keeps full-day kindergarten and all extracurricular activities, including sports and clubs.

Superintendent Ken Saranich said the district will not need layoffs because the eliminated jobs are held by employees who are retiring or resigning. The board’s revised plan is designed to fit within the funding level approved by the city Board of Aldermen.

The staffing reduction includes eight certified positions and six non-certified positions. Saranich said the district also closed the gap by trimming staffing, supplies and materials, reorganizing staff assignments and adjusting special education and transportation costs.

How the budget changed

The budget process began with a much larger request. The Shelton school board had initially sought about $90 million for the 2026-27 school year.

Mayor Mark Lauretti’s first city budget proposal gave schools no increase at all, holding school funding flat at $80.8 million. At that point, school officials warned that the district could be forced to cut athletics, extracurricular activities, full-day kindergarten and dozens of jobs if the funding did not improve.

The Board of Aldermen later approved a budget that added $2.1 million for schools, bringing the allocation to about $84.7 million. That increase did not fully meet the district’s request, but it gave school leaders room to avoid the deepest cuts that had been discussed earlier in the spring.

What stays in place

Despite the smaller-than-requested allocation, the district says it will keep full-day kindergarten and preserve all student extracurriculars.

That includes sports and clubs, two areas that had been identified as possible casualties when the city was still considering a flat school budget. The final vote means those programs remain intact for the coming school year.

Public stakes and next steps

The decision matters for both families and staff, because it avoids direct layoffs while still forcing the district to make cuts elsewhere in the operating budget.

The revised plan reflects the tension between school needs and city finances. District leaders had said earlier that flat funding would have produced much sharper reductions, and the final budget still leaves the district managing a tighter operating plan.

For now, school leaders will move ahead with the approved staffing and program structure for 2026-27. The district may still have to monitor healthcare, transportation and other costs during the year if expenses rise further.

The Shelton budget fight also shows the chronology of the dispute: an initial roughly $90 million request, a flat city proposal, a warning about major cuts, a later $2.1 million boost from aldermen and, finally, a revised school plan that protects core student programs while reducing personnel through retirements and resignations.