Holliston Public Schools outline district priority needs as budget season begins

Holliston Public Schools administrators presented a district “priority needs” summary to the Holliston School Committee on Jan. 23, outlining proposed classroom, technology, staff and capital items the district will consider as the FY26 budget is developed.

The presentation, led by district administrators, emphasized that the list represents needs — not final budget requests — and that some items are currently grant-funded. “These are the priority needs of the district. There may be some numbers attached to these things, but these are not requests,” an administrator said during the meeting.

Why it matters: the district’s budget calendar requires an early “first cut” so the town can include school requests in its recommended budget. Administrators told the committee the town has asked for an estimated budget number by Feb. 14; the school committee’s formal presentation is currently scheduled for Feb. 27 but staff are discussing moving it to Feb. 13 to meet town deadlines.

Key proposals and clarifications

- ELL tools and devices: Administrators said the district has piloted handheld translation devices (referred to in the presentation as “pocket talk” devices) and wants to expand the pilot. The presentation listed a current ELL population of roughly 60–63 students. The administration said 17 devices were piloted this year and the district would phase in more devices over time.

- Cybersecurity and Google Workspace: After recent regional incidents, the district is planning enhanced cybersecurity and data privacy work. Administrators said the town will fund $44,000 of the project and Holliston Public Schools (HPS) will provide $10,000 to the initial effort. The district also described an upgrade from the free Google Workspace for Education to a paid tier with expanded security and administrative features; administrators said a top-tier, fully integrated option (including a Gemini integration) would cost roughly $75,000, and the district is not pursuing that level now.

- Social-emotional and grant-funded programs: The district stressed that many SEL and mental-health supports are currently grant-funded and could require local funding if grants change. Administrators identified roughly $160,000 in grant-funded supports connected to several initiatives (named in the presentation) and said staff will track which grants can continue to fund programs and which would need replacement funding.

- Curriculum and instruction: Administrators reported continuing curriculum reviews and training (for example, OG training for reading instruction and new math resources K–12). A $23,000 one-time offset for prior curricular purchases will move into the operating budget, they said, and additional curriculum purchases will be considered after further review.

- Staffing requests and special services: The district listed several proposed additional positions across buildings, often tied to student need increases. Examples included: • Additional multilingual/ELL staffing at Placentino and other schools to meet recommended instructional minutes for newcomers. • A request for a full-time occupational therapist (OT) position to restore services previously provided by a certified OT (the district currently pays some contracted services where staffing is insufficient). • An additional school nurse FTE to move from a long-term substitute pattern to a roughly 1.5 FTE model districtwide. Administrators cited DESE guidance that “recommended nurse to student ratio is generally 1 FTE for every 250–500 students, with an additional 0.1 FTE added for every additional 50 students beyond 500,” and said a 1.5 FTE would bring the district closer to best practices.

- Middle-school supports and special-education continuum: Principals described a request for a special-education “bridge” teacher at the middle school to restore a continuum program the school currently lacks. That position was described as addressing students with academic and social-vocational needs who currently must be spread across other services.

- Tutoring and math intervention: The presentation proposed adding a math tutor or math lab at the middle school to address a reported cohort of students multiple grade levels below in math (administrators referenced “over 50 students 2–4 grade levels below” in a middle-school cohort). Staff described limited capacity in the current .5 math intervention role and argued a dedicated tutor could increase students served and produce larger gains.

- Capital items: The district listed capital needs including auditorium lighting (recent estimate: $99,000), replacement of exterior doors (administrators cited roughly $15,000 per double door), ongoing building supplies and routine maintenance. Administrators said some capital items were planned for spring capital funding.

Funding note and next steps

Administrators repeatedly noted that several items are grant-funded now and that those streams could change. They asked the committee for feedback on priorities while they compile the superintendent’s budget submission. The administration plans to return with a formal budget proposal in February and to continue checking grant statuses and potential offsets as enrollment and other variables become clearer.

Speakers and attributions in this article come from the administration’s presentation and principals’ reports during the Jan. 23 meeting. Direct quotations in this article are taken from those on-record remarks.