Wilmington superintendent presents recommended $X budget with cuts to meet town's 4% guideline

Superintendent Dr. John Brand presented the Wilmington Public Schools' superintendent's recommended budget for fiscal 2025-26 at the Jan. 22 School Committee meeting, saying the district trimmed roughly $650,000 from an earlier preliminary request to align with the town manager's guidance of a 4% overall increase.

Brand said the district took a two-pronged approach: first, seek reductions in non-salary accounts and deferred purchases; second, defer hiring three proposed district-level positions if necessary. "We tried to protect positions that directly serve students in new special-education placements," Brand said, and noted the district still seeks funding for an expanded program at Woburn Street School tied to incoming students.

The nut graf: the recommended plan reduces non-salary spending by about $420,000 and removes three recommended positions (a districtwide behavior specialist, a special-education program coach, and a high-school social-studies/business teacher position that would have expanded course options), while preserving other approved staffing increases tied to mandated enrollments.

In the body of the presentation, Brand and finance staff walked committee members through the principal drivers: rising out-of-district special-education tuition and transportation costs, increased steps-and-lanes obligations in salaries, and ongoing contractual longevity costs. Paul (finance staff) explained the district increased its planned offset using circuit-breaker reimbursements and prior-year receipts to smooth expected tuition and transportation pressures. The presentation also showed specific non-salary reductions, including delaying one textbook adoption, reducing professional-development line items, and shifting allowable costs to revolving accounts (for example athletic and CARES accounts) where statutes and regulations permit.

Committee members expressed concerns about the effect of removing the proposed high-school teaching position. "By not adding that position, we're making parts of that program of studies not available and accessible," Mr. Turner said, adding that enrollment trends (a projected increase of about 20 high-school students) make the position likely necessary. Brand said the administration can examine alternate funding paths and will return with options if the committee requests restoring a position.

Several committee members urged townwide discussion of school funding constraints under Proposition 2— and the variability of state circuit-breaker reimbursements for special education. "Even as enrollment grows modestly, costs are rising at an accelerating rate," Mr. Golden said, urging broader conversations with town leaders about long-term sustainability.

The recommended budget also includes a five-year capital forecast emphasizing technology and vehicle replacements, with security-related capital items listed across the forecast period and the option to reprioritize as the district finalizes the safety-audit recommendations.

The district will present the recommended budget to the town manager (his presentation was scheduled for Jan. 27) and then to the town finance committee in early March. The School Committee must vote on the package in February as part of the local budget cycle.

Ending: The administration asked the committee for feedback to finalize the budget ahead of the town-manager and finance-committee reviews; several members signaled they might request reinstatement of at least one proposed position if town-level funding can be adjusted.