Freetown‑Lakeville school committee adopts revised FY26 budget, ratifies one‑year contracts and approves $665,960 transfer from reserve

The Freetown‑Lakeville Regional School District School Committee on May 20 adopted a revised fiscal year 2026 budget, ratified one‑year memoranda of agreement (MOAs) covering district staff units and approved a $665,960 transfer from the district's excess and deficiency (E&D) fund to cover the contracts.

The action followed a clarification from the committee that a May 7 vote on budget changes did not meet DESE guidance and the district's legal advice because the committee should have voted to adopt a revised budget rather than amend an already‑approved budget. Interim Superintendent Dr. Barbara Starkey told the committee that "a budget can only be amended after it is voted on or approved by the member towns," and that under the district's rules a revised budget requires a two‑thirds vote of the full committee; because only four members voted in favor on May 7, "the motion did not pass," she said.

Why it matters: committee members said the ratified contracts and revised budget restore funding that district leaders said would otherwise require staffing cuts to stay within the previously voted budget. Jack Higgins, a district staff member who answered committee questions on the floor, said that without funding the contracts "it would require significant staffing cuts in all areas in order to come in under the budget number" previously approved.

What the committee approved - A motion to transfer $665,960 from the district's excess and deficiency account contingent on (1) ratification of two one‑year MOAs and (2) board approval of a revised FY26 budget. The motion passed on a roll call vote recorded at the meeting. - Ratification of a one‑year MOA with the EAFL teachers unit and authorization for the chair to execute the agreement and delegate enforcement to the interim superintendent. The committee approved ratification by roll call. - Ratification of a one‑year MOA with the EAFL prior professionals and secretaries unit (also authorized for execution and delegation to the interim superintendent). That motion passed by roll call. - Adoption of a revised FY26 budget that the superintendent said contains the amounts necessary to fund the ratified contracts. The committee adopted the revised budget by the two‑thirds threshold the superintendent had described.

Votes and procedure: The meeting record shows the committee took each vote in sequence after a legal and procedural clarification that the May 7 action should have been a revised‑budget vote requiring a two‑thirds majority. The committee used roll call votes for the transfer, each MOA ratification and the revised budget adoption. The meeting transcript records the clerk calling members by name during each roll call; the moderator announced "Motion passes" after each roll call.

What the committee did not decide tonight: The May 7 procedural issue remains a matter of record and the committee said no further action will be taken on that earlier vote at this time beyond adopting the properly constituted revised budget.

Next steps and context: Town meetings for member towns were scheduled in early June; the revised budget adopted by the committee will be presented to the member towns as the district proceeds through the local approval process. The committee also noted that ratifying the MOAs and budgeting to fund them was intended to preserve staffing and avoid raising member‑town assessments, subject to town approvals where required.

Ending: Committee members thanked staff who worked on negotiations and administrators who clarified the legal requirements. The committee adjourned after completing the agenda items.