Bridgewater–Raynham budget standoff leaves district facing multimillion-dollar shortfall; towns and committee discuss override and cuts

Bridgewater–Raynham Regional School Committee and its budget subcommittee spent much of the Feb. 26 meeting focused on narrowing a preliminary FY26 budget that staff said would require roughly $109 million in revenue and, under one scenario, could leave the district with a multimillion-dollar deficit.

The discussion centered on a budget Superintendent Powers presented to the committee and on a series of follow-up meetings the budget subcommittee has held with town officials. "As of right now, the budget that Mr. Powers presented was $109,000,000, which is approximately a 21% increase to the tax," Budget Subcommittee member Miss Kim said during her report. Town officials present said they could not support a tax increase of that magnitude.

Why it matters: school leaders said the district cannot absorb repeated staffing cuts without affecting instruction and services. Committee members and parents said the community must decide whether to pursue an override or accept additional…