School committee transmits four FY26 budget options to Tri-Board, advises against lowest proposal after public outcry

The North Andover School Committee voted Thursday to transmit four FY26 budget options to a Feb. 13 Tri-Board meeting and to register its formal opposition to the district’s lowest “guidance” budget.

The motion to forward the four budget scenarios — the guidance baseline, a proposed “alternative” budget, a level-services budget and a third compromise (presented by district staff) — passed on a 4–1 vote after more than an hour of public comment from parents, teachers and community members. Committee member Brown moved the motion; it was seconded and carried with votes recorded as: Hicks — yes; Moskovich — yes; Brown — yes; Cormier — no; Chair Koenig — yes.

Why it matters: The four documents lay out sharply different program outcomes and staffing levels. The superintendent presented a “purple” alternative that would cost $69,174,591.89 (about $4.32 million above the guidance budget) and would restore many positions compared with a lower alternative the district had circulated. Committee and town leaders will use the Tri-Board meeting to discuss which option to ask voters and town meeting to fund.

In public comment dozens of residents — parents, teachers and school staff — urged the committee to back a level-services budget or an override that would preserve current staffing. “I made the difficult decision to renounce my loyalty to my home country … to become an American citizen, so I could have a voice and a vote,” said Juliette Dorman, president of the North Andover Teachers Association, who urged the committee to recommend a level-services budget. Several other parents and teachers described the potential effect of staff reductions and school closings on special education, class sizes and extracurriculars.

What the budget options would change: The superintendent’s briefing included several modeled outcomes. - The purple alternative ($69,174,591.89) would, as presented, avoid cuts to special education; restore library and counselor positions at the high school; and limit staff reductions to a narrowed number of teacher positions (districtwide reductions presented as ranges: elementary 10–12 teachers, middle 6–8, high school 7–9). It would eliminate one district nurse and one central-office position and preserve a $400,000 reserve for out-of-district special-education tuition and transportation. The superintendent characterized the purple plan as a compromise if a full level-services package cannot be funded. - The guidance baseline would impose deeper cuts the superintendent and many commenters described as unacceptable; committee members said they did not endorse it.

The superintendent gave a current-year budget update that showed an anticipated FY25 deficit of about $3.6 million with offsets reducing the shortfall to roughly $1.4 million; several of the offsets would require town-meeting votes. Committee finance staff (Gail Dowd) said they will present a more detailed, bottoms-up review at the committee’s next meeting.

What comes next: The Tri-Board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at North Andover High School’s auditorium. Committee members asked that town leaders and finance committee members attend prepared to discuss debt-exclusion timing, available excess levy capacity and the municipal plan for using one-time revenue sources (including previously described excess levy capacity tied to recent commercial valuation increases). Committee members said they will use the Tri-Board session to explain the programmatic tradeoffs tied to each dollar level.

Votes at a glance - Motion to transmit four FY26 budget options to Tri-Board and formally advise against the guidance budget: moved by Mr. Brown, seconded (not specified); vote 4–1 (Hicks yes, Moskovich yes, Brown yes, Cormier no, Koenig yes); outcome: approved. - Motion to amend FY26 school calendar: make Dec. 23, 2025 a half day (to preserve a traditional half-day before winter break): moved; seconded; outcome: approved (unanimous recorded yes votes).

Ending The committee did not adopt a single recommended operating budget on Thursday. Instead it forwarded multiple options to Tri-Board for joint discussion with town finance leaders, making clear it rejects the lowest guidance scenario and plans further community outreach and financial detail work ahead of any town-meeting requests.