A public hearing about the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget of $71,836,488 highlighted Thursday’s School Committee meeting.

Superintendent Evan Bishop noted the budget was built “thoughtfully, with as much transparency as possible.” He said its main drivers include enrollment, meeting needs, transportation, contractual obligations and special education compliance.

The special education reserve fund and payroll software costs were moved into the school budget for FY 27 from the town budget and amount to $1.7% of the total, Bishop said.

Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Susan Rothermich broke down the budget, which shows an increase from FY 26 of 5.84% ($3,966,833).

Salaries increased by $3.1 million, with a total hike of $3,669,277 when requests for new personnel totaling 7.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions at a cost of $535,762 are factored in.

The requested positions include a special education intensive teacher at Hopkins School, a related arts teacher at the middle school, a reading interventionist at the middle school, a 0.5 FTE English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teacher for pre-K and kindergarten at Marathon School, an assistant principal at the high school and a custodian at Elmwood School (then Charleswood School in the future).

The district also is requesting a stipend ($14,889) to host a co-op team for the gymnastics program at the high school. That expense as well as funding for paraprofessionals at the middle school and Marathon School previously were approved by the School Committee.

Select Board member Matt Kizner said he was concerned to hear about a 20% to 30% increase in disciplinary referrals, one of the reasons another assistant principal is requested for the high school. This would be to lower the caseload of students handled per principal.

He said, “Some of this is home, town, community [responsibility]” and asked how the Select Board could partner with the School Committee to address this issue.

Bishop noted there is a lot of conversation around social/emotional learning, and it is an important focus and investment. A task force is working on strategies such as “restorative practices” to address the “concerning number” of infractions.

The School Committee will vote to adopt the budget at its Jan. 22 meeting.

Capital plan outlined

Rothermich also spoke about capital expenditures anticipated for the next several years. In FY 27, the items include $150,000 for district technology upgrades, $216,450 for classroom equipment and furniture and $95,000 for a buildings and grounds equipment/vehicle.

The FY 28 requests total $1.6 million and would include funds for classroom equipment/furniture ($238,250), building and grounds vehicle ($65,000), technology upgrades ($150,000), hallway flooring/athletic center track ($300,000) and kitchen/cafeteria/server ($880,000).

Looking to FY 29, Rothermich noted roofs at the middle and high school must be partially replaced ($4,447,500) when solar panels are removed (after 20 years). She said they originally were installed with penetrations and now are weighted.

When additional panels were added in 2023, those were weighted, the assistant superintendent said.