Westborough superintendent previews $73.4 million school budget, flags special-education and roof needs

Superintendent Allison gave the Advisory Finance Committee an early look at the school department's FY27 budget, saying the total request is "just over $73,400,000" and that the proposal is a level-services budget intended to preserve existing programs while limiting growth to 4.17 percent.

The presentation framed personnel and special education as the main cost drivers. Allison said salaries account for roughly 80 percent of the operating budget across about 720 employees, and that out-of-district special-education tuition has risen sharply in recent years. "Our number of students has not changed very dramatically over this time," she said, "what has changed is the actual cost ' it has skyrocketed." She told the committee the schools identified about $400,000 in reductions to help contain the increase.

Allison also flagged capital needs, singling out the high school A and B wing roof replacement as time-sensitive and estimated at about $5,700,000. She said the project is unlikely to wait for the Massachusetts School Building Authority's accelerated repair process because of timing: "the analysis that we had done this year indicates that it is ' it's a risky proposition to keep it any longer and we do need to do a replacement."

Committee members pressed for additional detail on staffing categories and the non-salary portion of the budget. Allison said a full line-by-line breakdown will be included in the budget book and that the human-resources department can provide more granular staffing tables. On federal and state grants, she said the district baked a conservative assumption into FY27 that roughly $130,000 to $150,000 in federal grant funding may not continue, while IDEA special-education funding was assumed to remain.

Transportation also drew sustained questions: Allison noted last year's contract caused a rise in costs and said Westborough has avoided broad bus fees to date, but that many districts use targeted fees or bring services in-house to reduce contractor costs. She cautioned such steps require careful study because of equity and traffic impacts.

Looking ahead, Allison said the district is working on a K-to-3 redistricting project to respond to development and shifting enrollment; she estimated October 1 enrollment at 3,642 students and said projections show a continued slow decline. She closed by reiterating that a strictly level-funded budget would likely force cuts of about 35 staff positions and significantly affect programming.

The committee agreed to receive the budget book when published and to schedule dedicated AFC review meetings in January ahead of the town's budget summit.