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Budget squeeze: schools eye staffing moves, transportation costs jump and Select Board weighs phased police hires
Summary
Town staff and the School Committee reported a smaller but still substantial FY26 budget gap; schools proposed moving cafeteria benefits to a revolving fund and offered to defer an $82,000 ELD staff line with a contingency plan, while Select Board and Advisory debated phasing police hires to reduce near‑term tax impact.
(This article summarizes the board-level discussion of the draft FY26 operating budget and key staffing items.)
Select Board and Advisory members received an updated revenue/cost outlook from the town finance staff showing the projected year‑over‑year tax impact had fallen from earlier estimates but remained elevated. The K–8 School Committee presented a set of options to reduce the district budget increase: it proposed transferring cafeteria staff benefits into the school’s revolving lunch account (estimated savings roughly $70,000 for FY26), postponing a $15,000 middle‑school science curriculum purchase for one year, and deferring an English‑language (ELD) staff position (estimated $82,000) for the budget with a plan to request funds later in the fall if…
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