PEABODY — The City Council approved a $90,677,549 appropriated education budget Tuesday, as well as the $187,216,576 complete city budget proposal for fiscal year 2024.
The Finance Committee, sitting as the Committee of the Whole, approved the nearly $90.7 million appropriated school budget in a unanimous vote as it finished its review of the city’s fiscal year 2024 proposal, which started June 15.
The school budget for FY24 was broken down into the appropriated education budget, which was approved by the School Committee in late May, and more than $2.4 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding from the federal government.
The appropriated education budget increased by nearly $7.4 million from FY23.
The two funding sources will result in a total of $93,099,617 in education funding, not including $5.2 million for the approved vocational-school assessment.
Peabody Public Schools Superintendent Josh Vadala said in his presentation to the committee that more than $61.5 million of the budget is tied up in salaries, and more than $29 million is budgeted for non-salary expenses.
The municipal contribution to the education budget is expected to be more than $55 million, a jump of close to $3 million from FY23.
More than $35.3 million in funding will come from Massachusetts Chapter 70 education aid, an almost $5 million increase from FY23.
The school budget passed the Committee of the Whole with a unanimous vote.
After the school budget’s approval, a special City Council meeting was held for final approval of the total city budget for FY24, which was approved by the council 9-2. Councilors-at-Large Jon Turco and Anne Manning-Martin voted no.
