The Lynn School Committee voted to approve the fiscal year 2026 budget, a $269,500,000 plan that the committee amended to restore seven clinician positions, the committee said.

The budget was approved in three separate roll-call votes: the teacher salary portion of $148,854,614 (approved, two abstentions), the non‑teacher salary portion of $70,944,173 (unanimous approval), and the non‑salary portion of $49,701,213 (unanimous approval). The separate tallies were taken to allow members with conflicts to abstain from individual components.

The vote followed a public hearing and an open‑mic period in which teachers, students and parents urged the committee to avoid cuts to student‑facing staff. Phil O'Connor, president of the Lynn Teachers Union, thanked the district for reaching a tentative contract agreement and said he remained concerned about the budget's impact on “student facing staff.” Teacher Nicole Doucette told the committee the proposed plan “opens the possibility for the potential loss of 2 clinicians and 28 teachers” and warned that reductions in the English‑learner department would “have a catastrophic impact” on those students.

The administration, led by Superintendent Dr. Alvarez and School Business Administrator Mr. McHugh, said the revised budget used savings from several administrative and nonunion positions to restore seven clinician roles. Mr. McHugh said the district eliminated or did not refill a set of positions (including an assistant director in MLE, a program specialist in curriculum, an assistant director for world languages, a part‑time coordinator of private partnerships and others) and realized $624,133 in savings. The seven clinicians added back cost $612,836; the remaining $11,002.97 was moved to the substitute account, Mr. McHugh said.

Deputy Superintendent (secondary schools and programs) explained that clinician staffing is cost‑effective relative to supervisor positions, noting an average cost of about $119,000 for a supervisor compared with about $87,000 for a clinician. The committee also discussed timing: committee members were told the budget is budgeted through June 30 and that staffing changes would take effect when the budget becomes operational for the next fiscal year (positions would not be open on July 1 unless reposted).

Public commenters emphasized several concerns beyond clinicians. Students and youth organizers praised newly budgeted extracurricular funds — $10,000 each for Lynn English and Lynn Classical and $5,000 for Lynn Tech — and thanked the Lynn Teachers Union for a negotiated 30% increase in club advisor stipends. Teachers and parents warned that larger class sizes, cuts to honors courses, and reductions in English‑learner and special education staff would harm both high‑need and high‑achieving students. Heather Lang, a teacher and former state semifinalist for Teacher of the Year, said reductions “stand to deeply affect our most vulnerable students, particularly those in special education and English‑learner programs.”

Committee members described the process as difficult but noted areas of progress. Several members praised the newly negotiated teacher contract as a “historic” step and said it provided budgeting certainty. Member Reid, while acknowledging continued disagreement about some cuts, called the contract and the extracurricular investments “huge bright spots.”

The committee recorded the following roll calls on the teacher salary motion: Member Castellanos — Yes; Member Dugan — Abstain; Member Gaitley — Yes; Member Pena — Yes; Member Reid — Abstain; Member Satterwhite — Yes; Mayor Nicholson — Yes. The non‑teacher salary and non‑salary motions passed unanimously by roll call.

The committee chair and administration said the budget and accompanying materials, including the public Q&A, will remain available to the public for transparency. The committee also directed that future policy questions—for example, around visa use for staff—be referred to the policy subcommittee for review.

The school committee's approval completes the local legislative step to set FY2026 spending for Lynn Public Schools; implementation details such as position postings and internal reassignments will follow district human‑resources procedures and applicable collective‑bargaining rules.