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 sizes at K–8. Powers told the committee the ask would represent a roughly 21% increase over the current operating budget and that, without additional state funding, it would raise the towns' assessments substantially. "If we were to fulfill that number using what we've received from Chapter 70 and Chapter 71, that would basically place the requirement of Bridgewater and Raynham to increase their assessment from last year about 30%," he said.

State Representative Dennis Gallagher provided context on state funding during the public-comment period, noting the governor's budget proposal and the district's Chapter 70 allocation. "The governor's budget came out last week, and with the Chapter 70 monies that that has been appropriated for the Bridgewater-Raynham School District, the increase is 8 a half percent over fiscal 25'about $2.7 million increase over last year," Gallagher said.

Public commenters and staff who spoke during the prolonged public-comment period emphasized class size, special-education staffing and student supports. Ashley Ballard, a Bridgewater resident and organizer who said unions and regional staff were present, told the committee: "We support what the school committee and the superintendent ... are asking for. We need more staff, and we specifically need town council in Bridgewater and a selectman to put forth motions to make sure that these are funded positions for the school." Teacher and parent speakers described classrooms with 30 or more students and urged early priority for hiring classroom teachers. "With class sizes as high as this, we're digging a hole so deep that many of our students are never able to call that out," said a parent, Elizabeth Shire.

Committee discussion stressed process as well as priorities. Members asked for follow-up detail on historical spending and on how specific hires would change actual class sizes in individual buildings. Powers said the budget calendar remains: a March 12 public hearing and a March 26 anticipated adoption by the school committee; town approvals follow in May.

After the presentation and discussion, a member moved to adopt the superintendent's FY26 preliminary budget as the school committee budget and refer it to the budget subcommittee for further review; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

The district will publish the presentation and the committee's next formal review steps. The budget subcommittee will meet repeatedly through February and March to refine the request before the public hearing on March 12 and the committee vote March 26.