Medford budget analyst outlines FY26 school budget: enrollment uptick, federal-grant uncertainty and multiple staffing requests

Gerald McHugh, the Medford School Department’s budget analyst, presented an overview of Fiscal Year 2026 budget planning at the March 5 Medford School Committee meeting, highlighting a projected uptick in kindergarten enrollment, multiple staffing requests from principals and uncertainty around federal grants.

McHugh said the district recorded 699 births for the cohort entering kindergarten and that the budget baseline uses October 1, 2024 enrollment as the starting point for FY26 projections. "We are predicting an increase in kindergarten enrollment," he told the committee, and cautioned that year-to-year kindergarten cohorts have fluctuated in recent years.

Budget drivers cited included a projected net enrollment increase (McHugh described the year-over-year change as an increase of roughly 65 students in total), the need to reserve funds for expiring collective-bargaining agreements and a list of principal and director requests that currently total roughly $2.7 million in new spending if all are adopted. McHugh said the district is…