School committee approves $398,000 reduction to FY26 request, outlines potential program cuts and staff impacts

The Westborough School Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to present a reduced FY26 budget that cuts $398,000 from the district’s operating request, following a district presentation that described a tiered approach to reductions and identified programmatic and staff impacts.

Superintendent (name not specified) briefed the committee on the FY26 proposal and a tiered reduction plan. She said the FY26 level-service budget request was $70,864,779 and that the proposed budget represented a 5.77% increase over FY25 driven largely by contractual salary obligations, transportation and special-education cost increases. She warned plainly that “any reduction we make is going to be a reduction in services for children and families.”

The administration presented three tiers of cuts. The superintendent described Tier 1 as increasing the district FTE reduction to roughly 7.95 positions, adding a $100,000 reduction to technology purchases and a $150,000 offset tied to preschool revenue — producing a tentative total reduction of $748,000 (the superintendent characterized that number with an asterisk, noting it relied on revenue assumptions). Tier 2 would add further position reductions and program cuts, including potential elimination of some elective high-school courses and reductions to co-teaching supports.

Committee members asked for specifics about which programs and positions would be affected if the reductions were enacted. The superintendent listed many of the targeted impacts under the tiers: reductions to K–3 fine arts/wellness FTE, elimination of a planned fifth-grade classroom position at Mill Pond (raising that school’s average class size toward 21), elimination of grade-7 Mandarin at Gibbons, delays to replacement of interactive whiteboards in roughly 38 classrooms, elimination of in-house electrician (vacant) and reductions to elective offerings at the high school. Tier 2 scenario included cuts to 0.6 coaching/support for co-teaching (grades 7–12), consolidation of K–8 science/social-studies coordination into one position, reductions in academic tutors at Gibbons, a 0.5 custodial FTE reduction at the high school, and reduced data/analyst support in the district office.

Public commenters raised technology and student-screen-time concerns tied to the budget discussion. Resident Saroja Honesogay, who said she has an engineering background and four children in the district, urged the committee to “cut access to the interactive whiteboard” and reduce Chromebooks and iPads while calling for a review of how devices are monitored and whether they yield measurable cognitive benefits. Resident Sofia Kogan, a psychiatrist and parent, urged caution about early and unfettered access to internet-connected devices and said open access can be “extremely addictive” and interfere with attention and development.

After discussion, the committee considered a motion to present Tier 1 reductions but to exclude the $150,000 assumed preschool revenue from the calculation; the motion, clarified on the floor to target the Tier 1 proposal and produce a net reduction figure of $398,000, passed unanimously. Committee members and administration emphasized the cuts will reduce services, and several members noted that town meeting delegates could choose to restore funds later.

The committee also took several other formal actions during the meeting: it ratified the administration’s removal of Article 8 from the town warrant, rescinded a prior proposed $30,000 reimbursement article as unnecessary, approved a high-school overnight trip, and approved meeting minutes; all of these votes were unanimous except the calendar decision reported separately.

The superintendent said the district will provide materials for town meeting that itemize what programs would not be funded at each reduction level so voters can see the tangible impacts of any reduction.

Ending: The committee set the reduced figure to satisfy town-level budget requests but asked administration to continue refining numbers and to return to the committee with operational details and community-facing materials ahead of town meeting.