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FY26 budget survey draws heavy participation; ThoughtExchange responses to be analyzed
Summary
Winchester Public Schools reported strong community engagement in its FY26 ThoughtExchange budget survey with about 700 participants, more than 600 submitted ideas and roughly 27,000 ratings; the survey closes Friday and staff will analyze themes and alignment with the earlier staff survey.
District staff told the School Committee on Feb. 13 that the FY26 ThoughtExchange survey of staff, families and community members has drawn strong early participation and will close on Friday, Feb. 14.
Mister Marin (presentation lead) reported roughly 700 participants, more than 600 submitted ideas and about 27,000 ratings as of shortly before the meeting. He noted the engagement depth is high: participants averaged more than 30 ratings each. The tool’s preliminary summary flagged recurring themes such as investing in teachers and curriculum, facilities maintenance (including references to Lincoln and Morocco — the latter likely a capital topic), equitable access to services, and social-emotional and extracurricular support.
Staff emphasized the responses remain preliminary until the exchange closes and consultants and district staff complete a programmatic review to separate operating priorities from capital requests. Committee members discussed how the ThoughtExchange data will be combined with an earlier staff survey to produce prioritized budget proposals for consideration at upcoming budget‑subcommittee and school‑committee meetings. The administration said it will present a draft FY26 budget booklet and recommendations in late February and is scheduling a March 13 committee vote on the level services budget.
Superintendent Hackett and budget committee members asked the public to finish the survey and noted that ThoughtExchange permits respondents to return and re-rank ideas; they said the district will use the results to inform the five‑year strategic plan and the FY26 budget process.
