Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After talks of closing a pair of schools - D'Youville Porter School PS 3 and Early Childhood Center PS 90 - come the end of the school year, Buffalo Public Schools superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga is recommending that no schools will be closed, at least for now.
The district says feedback from the community and other constituencies were part of the decision to withhold closing schools at this time. However, this is only a delay in the school closing process.
Dr. Mubenga is working on a new process utilizing an external source to compile data, involving input from the City of Buffalo and community groups, to make recommendations to the Buffalo School Board.
The district feels it will never achieve a balanced budget without school closings and consolidation of facilities, and will eventually run out of fund balance.
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The Buffalo School Board met with the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority (BFSA) and external auditors to discuss the decision and its impact on the district's four-year plan.
"We met with the Control Board, we talked to them about no school closings, because that was an integral part of the four-year plan and our financial plan. When you deviate on that larger risk scale, you call the Control Board, you call your external auditors. That's one of the constituencies you discuss," said James Barnes, Chief Financial Officer for Buffalo Public Schools. "It was a very positive meeting, from my perspective, but they are going to hold us to still achieving our fund balance objectives. We're not going to close schools, so what are you going to not do that, but still keep your objectives and meet your objectives for your fund balance?"
There are currently two other key components of the four-year plan currently being implemented: The closure of Virtual Pathways and the reduction of 100 budgeted FTEs (Full-Time Equivalents).
To offset the projected loss in cost savings from school closures and to achieve the fund balance targets incorporated in the four-year plan, the district is in the process of developing a "Plan B" that includes returning the district to pre-COVID staffing levels. It will also involve additional FTE and cost cuts and potential revenue enhancements that impact every area of district operations, including Central Office, Schools, programming and contracts with vendors.
"The superintendent has charged the budget department with going top-to-bottom - every line, every contract - and the old justifications for spending this money, they may no longer apply. So we're taking a fresh look at everything," Barnes added during Wednesday's session.
It will also impact union negotiations.
Dr. Mubenga has the budget team aggressively looking for additional cost reduction and revenue enhancement opportunities to incorporate into the 2026-27 budget process. This includes approximately 45 Central Office positions to cut from next year's budget.
"We're really proactive. We're able to have conversations with our union, because they're going to fill the pains as well, because some of the memberships are going to be reduced," said Dr. Mubenga on Wednesday. "I think this is the right thing to do. Instead of closing two schools and the impacts in the community, it was not going to be good at this point.
"We're gonna do our due diligence, and when it comes to cuts, we started with my cabinet. I just wanted to show that example. And then a lot of people, a lot of positions are going to be impacted at the Central Office level."
The budget process for the 2026-27 school year is scheduled to begin on Jan. 26.