Lynn School Committee approves $269.5 million FY2026 budget after restoring seven clinicians

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…