Woburn School Committee approves FY26 budget and sends proposal to city hall

The Woburn School Committee voted unanimously to send the proposed fiscal year 2026 school budget, $96,402,440, to city hall after a public hearing and brief discussion.

The budget presentation described the proposal as a collaborative, months-long effort built from conversations with principals and building staff. "The proposed budget amount is $96,402,440. This represents a percentage increase year over year of 6.68% and that dollar increase year over year is $6,035,819," said Mister De Geass, a member of school department staff who presented the plan to the committee.

The committee opened the public hearing, heard no substantive testimony on the budget at the hearing, and then voted to close the hearing and forward the document. The motion to send the FY26 budget to city hall passed 7–0.

Why it matters: The amount forwarded by the committee will be incorporated into the citywide budget process. A city official present at the meeting said the school submission will be combined with other department budgets and reviewed by the mayor's office and city council; any discrepancies between the school submission and the mayor's recommended city budget will be shared and discussed with the committee.

Committee members praised staff work on a budget they described as aiming to maintain recent investments while balancing taxpayer affordability. The committee also acknowledged the role of the city in assembling the final municipal budget.

Next steps and implementation: With the committee's approval, the superintendent's office will provide the forwarded budget to the mayor's office and the city council will consider the full municipal budget in the next stage of the process.

The meeting later moved on to routine business.