Bridgewater-Raynham superintendent proposes $109.8 million FY26 budget; committee adopts and refers plan for review

Superintendent Christopher Powers on Wednesday presented a preliminary fiscal year 2026 operating budget of about $109.8 million to the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee and asked the committee to adopt that budget as its preliminary request and refer it to the committee's budget subcommittee.

Powers said the request reflects a needs-based approach tied to the district's student success plan and to demographic changes the district has experienced in the past decade. "This is what we need to be a high performing school district," Powers said during the presentation.

The proposed FY26 package includes approximately 91 staffing requests, a mix of restorations and new positions; the superintendent said many requests are restorations of positions cut in prior years and that 14 of the requested positions are intended to reduce class…