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Westborough School Committee accepts superintendent's recommended FY26 budget after public hearing
Summary
After a public hearing at 6:30 p.m., the Westborough School Committee voted to accept the superintendent's recommended level-services budget for fiscal year 2026. The meeting included questions about revolving accounts, professional development spending and a public commenter's comparative expenditure charts.
The Westborough School Committee voted to accept Superintendent Allison's recommended fiscal year 2026 budget after holding a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, advancing the level-services proposal to the town's review process.
Allison told the committee the budget is a draft and that staff will revise two items in the printed packet before final printing: wording about the review process and a misposted transfer that temporarily showed a negative balance in the high school music revolving account. "The correct balance is right around $8,000," she said, adding staff are tracing the transfer to correct the accounting error.
The superintendent and committee members discussed the school-lunch revolving account, which Allison said is restricted to lunch-related expenditures and has grown because of federally funded free-lunch programming. "We are actively looking at places where cafeteria tables need to be replaced and upgrades that will appropriately use those funds," she said.
Committee members pressed for clarity on professional-development accounting after public commenter Wilfred presented comparative charts showing Westborough spending more than peer communities on professional development and operations and maintenance. Allison explained that differing accounting codes and the district's practice of keeping much professional development in-house can make year-to-year and cross-district comparisons difficult. "Where different districts put things on lines can vary pretty wildly," she said.
Wilfred, identifying himself with a local address, told the committee he provided three charts showing specific line items of concern in FY23: "about $764,000" for professional development line 2356 and "$1,300,000" for grounds maintenance line 4210. He asked the committee to examine those categories in light of taxpayers' financial pressure.
The committee closed the public hearing by roll call and then voted to approve the superintendent's recommended budget; the chair noted the approved school-committee budget will next be reviewed by the finance committee, the select board and the town manager ahead of Town Meeting.
No amendments were offered during the meeting. The committee also approved routine minutes and adjourned. The approved budget will be available as part of the town's budget-review calendar.
