Westwood school committee demands clarity after town’s budget shows unshared revenue; superintendent to model two scenarios

Westwood — Members of the Westwood School Committee said a select-board presentation earlier this week contained revenue changes not shared during prior budget-steering talks, leaving the committee feeling the schools were unfairly burdened and prompting a commitment to revisit the district’s FY27 request.

"I feel like we were misled," the committee chair said, describing an original steering-group understanding of roughly $550,000 in combined town cuts and state aid that the district used to craft its proposed budget. "That is not how the budget process should work," the chair added, calling for greater transparency between town and school negotiators.

Why it matters: The district’s proposed budget included program protections and personnel reductions intended to balance operations under what committee members described as a difficult fiscal climate. After the select board’s Monday presentation showed additional municipal revenues and added personnel, committee members said they were not informed of those changes and are now seeking to determine whether some of the newly available funding can be applied to reduce school cuts.

What the committee said: Committee member Amanda said it was "completely outrageous" that municipal staffing increased at…