Teachers, students and parents urge Freetown-Lakeville committee to restore staff amid FY26 cuts

Dozens of teachers, students and local curriculum leaders told the Freetown Lakeville Regional School Committee at its June 11 meeting that proposed budget cuts for fiscal year 2026 would remove staff who support at-risk students and could diminish signature academic programs.

At the public-participation portion of the meeting, long‑time Freetown Elementary School teacher Jill Larue said the district faces both retirements and nonrenewals that will remove “2 and a half positions” at her school even before any additional cuts. Larue described two intervention teachers by name and urged the committee to approve a $250,000 request from the district’s E and D funds that she said would save four positions: “If you can reconsider, that $250,000 will save not just our four positions… it’ll save 20 to 30 students who are not able to receive services,” she said.

Larue identified Suzanne Cunha as the school’s math interventionist and said Cunha currently serves about 38 children a day; Larue described Cunha’s work as having raised students scoring “green” on math measures from 67% to 79% in recent years. Larue also named a specialist she said would be affected by cuts — “Maggie McKayle McKay” — describing that teacher as an Orton‑Gillingham‑trained literacy specialist who sees roughly 20 students across two elementary…