Superintendent highlights grants, awards and a projected enrollment drop as Lynn prepares budget forums

At the Jan. 8 Lynn School Committee meeting, Superintendent Cohen used the communications portion of the agenda to highlight recent student and staff recognitions, ongoing grant-funded supports and a near-term budget challenge.

Cohen said Lynn Woods Elementary was named by U.S. News & World Report as a top public elementary school in Massachusetts and highlighted student awards and performances (LEHS JROTC color guard and All City Band appearances). He listed multiple grants supporting multilingual learners, newcomer families and special education, including Title III, a Title III supplement, FC348 support for newcomers and a $50,000 federal grant to support implementation of updated regulations on time-out practices for special education settings.

On district finances, the superintendent reported that the DESE Chapter 70 FY27 summary shows a decline of 435 students compared with the previous year, and he framed that enrollment change as a primary factor the district will consider while preparing its FY27 budget. Cohen announced two public budget forums (an in-person session and a webinar) to explain Chapter 70 funding and invite public comment.

Administrators said ACCESS testing for multilingual learners is underway with results expected later in the spring; they also said the district will continue to report AP and early-college indicators via DESE and to provide internal metrics to the committee as programs are implemented.

What’s next: Superintendent Cohen said the district will host budget forums on Feb. 4 (in-person) and Feb. 11 (webinar) and will continue budget discussions at the Feb. 12 committee meeting.