Cambridge School Committee adopts $280 million fiscal 2026 budget after public push from educators and caregivers
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Summary
The Cambridge School Committee voted to approve the fiscal 2026 school budget after months of public engagement and advocacy by educator and caregiver groups. The committee also suspended rules to advance the measure to City Council.
The Cambridge School Committee voted to adopt the fiscal 2026 operating budget and move it to the City Council after a roll-call vote during an April meeting.
The budget vote followed extensive public comment from educators and parent-led groups, including the Cambridge Education Association and the “solidarity squad,” who said their “people’s budget” influenced several items in the final proposal. Dan Monahan, president of the Cambridge Education Association, urged the committee to adopt the budget, praising an agreement over the Kennedy Longfellow closure and highlighting supports for displaced staff and families.
Advocates said the FY26 proposal reflected deeper community input than recent budgets. Christopher Montero, a CRLS history teacher and CA president-elect, described months of work by caregivers and educators to shape a people’s budget and said the superintendent’s willingness to meet with the group produced changes to the proposed plan.
Committee business proceeding the vote included a motion to suspend the rules to bring the FY26 budget forward and a formal motion to advance the budget to the full committee. Member Rachel moved to bring the budget forward; Member Hudson seconded. The committee then voted by roll call to adopt the budget and forward it to the City Council for review and action.
Why it matters: Committee members and speakers said the FY26 process showed deeper community engagement and produced additional student-facing resources, including added paraprofessional positions requested by educators. Speakers asked the committee to use its authority to resist austerity messaging and to protect student-facing programs.
What’s next: The adopted budget will go to the City Council for its review later this spring. The committee’s vote sends the district’s spending plan and priorities to that next step in the municipal approval process.
Votes and procedure notes: The suspension of rules and subsequent motion to bring the FY26 budget forward passed on a recorded roll call. The committee read statutory budget categories aloud and conducted separate roll-call votes on categories including salaries and benefits, ordinary maintenance, travel and training, and extraordinary expenditures before announcing the budget’s adoption. The budget will proceed to the City Council at a time preset in May.
Ending: Committee and community leaders said they would continue engagement around specific allocations and operational questions as the City Council considers the measure.