Woburn panel advances FY26 budget to public hearing, restores high school cultural specialist

The Woburn School Committee voted April 16 to send a proposed fiscal year 2026 spending plan to a public hearing with an approximately 6.68% year‑over‑year increase and, after debate, voted to restore a grant‑funded cultural specialist position at Woburn High School.

The vote to send the budget to a public hearing came after presentations from district staff outlining drivers of the increase and a sustained discussion among committee members about staffing priorities. “A maintenance budget means all the things we did last year continue,” the mayor of Woburn told the committee, urging members to consider whether proposed changes were additions to maintenance or true new programs.

Why it matters: The committee’s decision sets the number that will go to city leaders and to public review. The proposal funds staff additions the administration says are needed for special education, elementary interventions, registration and operations; reversing the removal of a cultural specialist was the clearest example at the meeting of how community and committee pressure changed staffing decisions before the budget moves forward.

Presentation and drivers District budget presenter Alex (school staff member) told the committee the proposed FY26 package represented about a $5.9 million year‑over‑year increase and a 6.58% rise on several slides, placing the total near $96 million (the presentation cited $96,853,000 on one slide and $96,310,543 on a summary slide). He identified the primary drivers as salary and contracted increases (including a negotiated…