Tewksbury School Department requests 3.44% budget increase; capital outlay cut to $250,000

The Tewksbury School Committee on Feb. 5 heard a public presentation on the proposed fiscal 2026 school budget, which school department staff said requests a 3.44% increase over the current year and adjusts the district’s priorities to cover salary and operating needs.

School department staff member Dave Libby presented the overview, saying the request stems from step and longevity increases and other salary pressures. “Our salary is typically 70% of our budget,” Libby said, summarizing the department’s approach to building the request. He added the department planned to convert contracted special-education aides and some therapy services into salaried positions where possible to gain more in‑district capacity and reduce contracted costs.

The proposed budget would shift money away from capital outlay to cover salary and operating accounts. Libby said capital outlay for FY26 was being reduced by about 68% to $250,000 from what the department typically budgets (about $789,000 in prior years), and that many building projects would instead need to be funded through town meeting warrant articles when one-time town revenues are available. He also said the district expects a nearly $400,000 health-insurance offset from fully burdening federal programs for employee benefits.

Why it matters

The budget affects classroom staffing and building projects districtwide. Libby told the committee the proposed changes aimed to protect instructional positions while providing more in‑district special-education programming after a recent special-education audit recommended strengthening vertically aligned programs and therapeutic learning centers at the district’s elementary schools.

Key details

- Overall requested increase: 3.44% (department figure presented by Libby). - Salaries: presented as roughly 71% of the total budget; teachers account for about two-thirds of that salary share. - Operating: roughly 28–29% of the school department budget in the presented model. - Capital outlay: proposed at $250,000 for FY26 (presenter said this is ~68% lower than the amount typically carried in capital outlay). - Health-insurance offset: Libby said the department is accounting for nearly $400,000 in offsets by charging federal programs for benefits. - Special-education strategy: convert some contracted services (speech, behavioral, occupational therapy and contracted aides) to district employees where feasible; implement recommendations from a special-education audit.

Revenue and risk notes

Libby walked committee members through other revenue and risk items the budget relies on: the town/school 60/40 historic split of “new revenues,” continued grant and revolving-account income (the district carries about 49 separate funds and funds roughly 38 positions partially or fully from those sources), and the state’s circuit‑breaker reimbursement for high‑cost special‑education students. He said the district projects circuit‑breaker reimbursement that could exceed $6 million in its planning but cautioned that the state may limit reimbursements; the district received roughly $4.1 million this year because the state funded the program at 44% rather than a higher rate that had been expected.

Committee questions and next steps

School committee members pressed for more detail on specific capital projects (fire-alarm panels, intercoms, intrusion alarms) and asked Libby to provide cost estimates and probability assessments of whether each item would be a safety-critical need in the coming year. Members also asked for clarifications on how contracted services change line items at each building; Libby explained that moving contracted aides to salaried positions reduces operating lines at individual schools while increasing salary lines centrally.

Libby said the budget will be refined through May as enrollment data, town revenues and federal grant notices firm up. He repeated that the department will present the budget again in March and continue updates through the town’s finance process and town meeting.

Ending

Committee Chair Terry Regan thanked Libby and staff and asked the department to continue communicating budget pressures and trade-offs to the community as the FY26 process proceeds. No formal vote on the FY26 appropriation was taken at the Feb. 5 meeting; the committee received the presentation and scheduled further reviews.