The Greenwich Board of Education began reviewing its fiscal year 2028 capital plan at a special meeting on Thursday, Sept. 24, at Cos Cob School.

The session opened a budget season that will determine which school buildings get priority and how much the town borrows for construction. The meeting's agenda called for the first reading of the FY28 capital update, summer reports from the Old Greenwich School and Julian Curtiss School building committees and the district's monthly financial report, as first reported by the Greenwich Sentinel.

Four buildings top the district's priority list: Central Middle School, Old Greenwich School, Julian Curtiss School and Greenwich High School.

Specific cost estimates and timelines for each project have not been made public.

The capital plan is separate from the district's annual operating budget, but the two are linked. Construction projects compete for the town's borrowing capacity. Finished buildings also bring new costs for staffing, utilities, maintenance and technology.

BET sets FY28 budget guidelines

The Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) Budget Committee released its draft FY28 budget guidelines the same week. The guidelines project a 3.7% increase for the Board of Education, excluding benefits, and a 3.46% total operating increase across town government.

BET Budget Committee Chair Laura Erikson said the carryforward budget is the spending cap for now.

"We welcome new initiatives to improve services and productivity, but we also expect that programs or services that aren't working as intended will be reevaluated as part of that exercise," Erikson said.

A three-year budget model prepared earlier in 2026 projected the district's FY28 operating-budget rollover at roughly $214.86 million. That would be a 3.71% increase from the current $207.18 million budget before new items or savings. With new items, spending could reach about $216.09 million, a 4.3% jump. Those figures are planning estimates, not an adopted budget.

Superintendent Toni Jones has not yet presented a proposed FY28 operating budget. That proposal is expected later this fall, after which the board will debate and adopt its own request before the town budget process begins.

What's next

The BOE Budget Committee meets Friday, Oct. 2, at 10 a.m. at the Havemeyer Building. A virtual option will be available. The BET Budget Committee follows on Tuesday, Oct. 13.