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Weston principals urge keeping staffing and programs intact as budget talks continue
Summary
Principals from Weston’s elementary, middle and high schools asked the board to preserve staff and programs—innovation lab, STEM, academic intervention labs, counseling supports and extracurriculars—citing student outcomes, class‑size concerns and rising special‑education caseloads.
Elementary, middle and high school leaders presented school‑level budget priorities to the Weston Board of Education on items they said are essential to maintain student support and program continuity. Principals said the proposed budget preserves an innovation lab and STEM alignment, academic intervention labs, student support staff and a wide array of extracurricular opportunities.
"Shifting some of our funding through the library space to be able to support that innovation lab," said the elementary principal, describing a repurposing of library resources to deliver engineering and technology experiences tied to science curriculum. The middle‑school principal said a modest enrollment increase in the incoming sixth grade makes it important to keep the existing teaming model and academic workshop interventions, which he described as central to supporting adolescents’ academic and social development.
The high‑school principal said the budget maintains recently created supports, including dedicated math and literacy labs and a 0.5 full‑time‑equivalent student support specialist who helps coordinate multi‑tiered supports. "Our student support specialist has really been instrumental in engaging students who can be more vulnerable," the principal said, adding the district has more than 80 clubs and 32 sports programs and highlighted a unified effort to keep the school cell‑phone free during the day.
Administrators framed program preservation as key to sustaining the district’s academic performance and personalized model. The superintendent noted enrollment projections show a net 34‑student decline after accounting for 70 newly enrolled pre‑K students, and said enrollment figures alone do not justify reducing staff when student needs and outcomes depend on sustained, high‑touch services.
Board members asked for additional modeling and data—one member requested a "one-less-section" simulation across K–5 to show the staffing and class‑size impact—while principals warned that reducing sections would push class sizes to the mid‑20s for early grades and could harm personalization for young children.
The board plans a public budget forum on Jan. 14 where community members can ask questions and the administration will provide follow‑up answers to questions posed by board members before that meeting. The administration said it will prepare the requested modeling and additional caseload and sectioning data for future sessions.
