District overview
Stamford Public Schools
How Stamford's public schools are funded, governed, and what is being built right now
How are Stamford's public schools paid for?
Connecticut sends state aid to school districts mainly through the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula, which is weighted toward towns with lower property wealth and higher student need. Stamford is Connecticut's second-largest city with a large commercial and high-value residential tax base, so under that formula it receives comparatively little of its school budget from the state. Most of the money that pays for Stamford's schools comes from the city's own property tax revenue, appropriated each year by the Board of Representatives and Board of Finance after the Board of Education adopts its budget request.
Locally appropriated budget
The nine-member elected Board of Education adopts an annual budget request, which the city's Board of Finance and Board of Representatives can adjust before final appropriation.
State aid is a smaller share
Connecticut's ECS formula directs more state aid per pupil to lower-wealth towns; a high-grand-list city like Stamford draws relatively less state funding per student as a result.
Nine elected board seats, staggered terms
Three of the nine Board of Education seats are elected each year to three-year terms, with a charter rule that no single party can hold more than six of the nine seats.
Mayor sits ex officio
Stamford's mayor is a non-voting member of the Board of Education, connecting city hall to school governance without a budget vote of her own.
City's appropriation can move after the board adopts its own budget
The board approved a $372,075,133 operating budget in February 2026, then revised it down to $359,975,133 -- about $12.1 million and 76 fewer positions -- by May 2026, illustrating how the locally appropriated total can still change materially after the board's own initial vote.
Being mostly locally funded does not by itself mean Stamford's schools are over- or under-resourced relative to state peers; it means the city's own property tax decisions, not a state formula, are the main lever that determines the school budget from year to year.
Where the district stands
2024-25 school year, across 21 schools.
Fiscal year 2022-23, the most recent year in NCES's finance file; a calculation from total current expenditures divided by enrollment, not a single published figure.
The city charter's minority-representation rule; no party may hold more than two-thirds of the nine seats.
Final figure adopted May 19, 2026; the board had initially approved $372,075,133 in February 2026, about $12.1 million more.
Down from 2,088.8 positions in the board's initial February 2026 budget, about 76 fewer positions.
Appointed by the board on April 28, 2026; the appointee's name was left blank on that agenda template but is given on the May 12, 2026 agenda approving the incoming superintendent's transition days.
Major projects
New Westhill High School
Under constructionA new Westhill High School building is under construction on the existing 32-acre Roxbury Road site, replacing the current building with a roughly 2,458-student facility while the current school stays open during construction.
- City secures state construction grant funding for the project (exact date not published; year only).
- Construction begins on site.
- Official groundbreaking ceremony held.
- Projected completion and opening (year given; exact date not yet published).
Funding
State of Connecticut school construction grant secured by the City of Stamford in 2024, plus city bonding; the specific dollar amount is not published on the project site.
District-wide roof, window, and solar-panel capital program
Underway; some projects completedThe board's Operations Committee recommended a roughly $29.3 million FY2026-27 capital budget in October 2025, and over the following year approved or completed a series of building-condition projects: a completed roof replacement at Stamford High School, a completed window replacement at Springdale Elementary, and approved grant applications or bidding plans for roof and solar-panel work at Hart Elementary, Turn of River Middle School, Westover, Strawberry Hill K-8, and a further Stamford High School roof-and-solar project.
- Operations Committee recommends the FY2026-27 long-term and short-term capital budget.
- Board approves grant applications for a partial roof replacement and a rooftop solar photovoltaic system.
- Board approves roof-replacement grant applications for Hart Elementary and Turn of River Middle School.
- Board approves solar-panel plans for Westover and Strawberry Hill K-8, and accepts completion of the Stamford High School roof replacement and Springdale Elementary window replacement.
Funding
District capital budget ($26,175,000 long-term and $3,165,250 short-term recommended for FY2026-27) combined with state Office of Governmental Accountability (OGA, formerly OSCG&R) school-construction grant applications for individual projects.
Recent news
Governance, funding-mechanism, enrollment, and finance figures come from the district's own Board of Education page, the district's Building Excellence (SPSBuilds.com) construction-project site, and the U.S. Department of Education's NCES Common Core of Data. Meeting-specific figures (the 2026-27 budget, the superintendent appointment, and capital-project details) come from the Board of Education's own agendas, posted on the City of Stamford's Granicus meeting archive, covering all 66 board and committee meetings held in the trailing 12 months.
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