Selectmen schedule special meeting, sparking heated debate over school budget and restore visiting nurses funding

The Winchester Board of Selectmen voted to hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday to decide whether to move the proposed fiscal 2025–26 budget to town meeting, and restored $24,000 in funding for the Foothills Visiting Nurses and Hospice program, returning the town contribution to $34,000.

The decision came after more than an hour of public comment and an extended board discussion about the school budget, teacher pay, district staffing and capital needs. Dozens of residents spoke on behalf of the school budget and asked the board to submit the Board of Education’s proposal to a town vote rather than preemptively cutting items.

Resident Christine Rylander, addressing the board during the budget-specific public comment period, said, “Our teachers absolutely deserve competitive compensation.” Eleanor Bishop urged the board not to “preemptively reduce” the education budget and asked the board to “put the vote out to the town before reducing anything further and let the people have their say.” Teacher and parent Liz Raines said, “Let the town vote. Let us stand together, and let's keep moving forward.”

Town staff presented fiscal figures during the meeting. The finance director reported year-to-date revenues and expenditures through March 31 and outlined a proposed mill-rate trajectory in the current budget proposal. During discussion, staff said restoring $24,000 to Foothills would raise the projected mill-rate from roughly 27.24 mills to about 29.17 mills — an increase of roughly 1.93 mills (about 7.09 percent) relative to the baseline shown earlier in the town manager’s materials. Selectmen and staff repeatedly emphasized the timing constraints: the town must finalize budget language for publication by noon Thursday to meet notice requirements for the annual process.

Selectmen debated alternatives suggested at the public hearing and during the meeting, including asking teachers for a pay freeze, seeking additional revenue, or moving some capital items. The superintendent and board of education representatives urged the selectmen to allow voters to decide the education budget through the referendum process. Several residents noted that a preliminary, large-scale cut to the education budget could reduce turnout or remove services the town has only recently restored.

On a separate motion the board unanimously restored Foothills Visiting Nurses funding to $34,000 after hearing the program’s service counts and comparing Winchester’s contribution with other towns. Finance staff said restoring that amount would change the budget projection cited above; the board accepted the restoration by unanimous vote.

Board members scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday to finalize the decision about moving the budget to a town meeting and to consider a short list of remaining line-item changes.

Ending: The board left several budget questions open for Wednesday’s special meeting and instructed town staff to prepare the revised budget language, supporting line-item detail, and debt-service estimates for publication. The board also directed staff to provide updated figures on property and grant revenue in time for that meeting.