Weston superintendent recommends 3.9% budget with three new curriculum positions; committee preserves limit under 4%

Superintendent Dr. Trahan presented a final FY26 budget recommendation totaling $49,410,720, a 3.9% increase from FY25, and described the staffing and savings steps that produced the package.

The recommended plan — called Option 8 in the presentation — includes funding for three prioritized additions: a sixth-grade section, a seventh-grade section and a third curriculum coordinator. Dr. Trahan said those three items together represented the package the administration preferred and drove the larger set of requests the committee considered.

"Option 8 is the last will be meeting the option that we chose to go with," Dr. Trahan said while reviewing the slide deck. Director of finance Buck Creel summarized one-time and recurring reductions that brought the budget down to the 3.9% recommendation and said each reduction was made after consulting the relevant program administrator.

Nut graf: The recommended budget aims to balance preserving class sections and responding to curriculum rollout needs while staying under the committee's informal 4% limit. The administration described specific FTE changes, cost-saving adjustments, and program tradeoffs that produced a balanced proposal.

Administration staff and building leaders described the curricular rationale for converting content specialists to a team of curriculum coordinators. Erin and Deb (district curriculum staff) told the committee the shift is intended to speed a coordinated rollout of a new literacy program and to provide more-internalized professional development across elementary buildings. "If you have three people with a shared focus, then you're able to make that rollout go more quickly and more streamlined," Erin said.

On staffing, the presentation showed FY25 FTEs at 568.72 and an FY26 projection of 575.64 after the additions. Creel said many of the savings were accumulated from unspent FY24 balances, one‑time items in FY25 that did not need carryforward, and targeted salary adjustments. Examples discussed included leftover athletic transportation funds and adjustments to a union release-time salary.

Committee members asked about kindergarten and middle‑school sectioning. The administration said kindergarten appears likely to produce a solid cohort and that the middle‑school plan holds grade 6 at eight sections, expands grade 7 from six to eight sections and retains grade 8 at seven sections to preserve class‑size targets and scheduling options.

Robotics and extracurricular funding: Committee members raised concerns about long‑term sustainability of the robotics program. Dr. Trahan said he had asked staff to form a task force to study robotics funding and organizational models; the task force will produce tiered options that spell out what different funding levels would support.

On the DEI coordinator position, the administration proposed absorbing duties across teaching-and-learning and contracted consultancy supports rather than keeping a separate DEI coordinator FTE. "DEI never belongs to one person only," Dr. Trahan said, describing plans to distribute responsibilities among principals, teaching-and-learning staff and an external consultant the district is already engaging.

The budget presentation closed with reminders about upcoming finance committee and public outreach meetings; the administration said additional details and supporting documents were available to committee members and the public.

Ending: The committee will review the proposal again at its finance committee meeting and at its regular March meeting as the town budget schedule advances; staff said specific enrollment and kindergarten registration numbers will be clearer by April.