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Woburn administration proposes $100.3 million FY27 budget, adds 12 FTEs
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Summary
Director of finance Alex Dizzio presented a FY27 operating budget of $100.3 million (4.55% increase) that funds step/lane increases, contractual obligations, and 12 proposed FTEs including an assistant principal at Shamrock, a high-school reading specialist, a nurse at Kennedy, and an SLP; committee members asked for more detail and noted figures remain draft.
Woburn Public Schools officials on March 25 presented a draft fiscal 2027 operating budget of $100,300,000, a proposed $4.3 million (4.55%) increase from FY26 that would fund contractual obligations, step-and-lane salary growth and 12 new full- and part-time positions.
Director of Finance Alex Dizzio outlined the assumptions behind the figure: a roll-forward of FY26 baseline lines, contractual increases for out-of-district special-education tuition, transportation and utilities, and strategic investments. He said the budget currently reflects a $165,000 set of reductions identified since the prior draft and noted the district did not include a cost-of-living adjustment in this version.
Planned staffing additions total 12 FTEs: eight 0.5 FTE building substitutes intended to provide daily classroom coverage; three classroom teachers (including a RISE teacher, a high-school wellness teacher, and a fourth-grade bubble room teacher); and four building-level hires: an assistant principal at Shamrock (succession planning as the current principal plans retirement), a reading specialist/interventionist at the high school, a nurse at John F. Kennedy Middle School (Kennedy enrollment cited at about 500 students), and a speech-language pathologist. Dizzio said approximately 76% of the budget would be salaries and benefits.
Committee members questioned some choices. Vice Chair Crowley and others asked for more detail on the Shamrock assistant principal, given the buildings high special-needs population and the principals long tenure. Members also pressed the administration on the reading specialist role, clarifying it would function as a reading interventionist/double-dose position to restore foundation-level supports that had been reduced in prior years. Committee member Roland and others raised hiring and recruitment concerns for maintenance and HVAC roles, and the difficulty of filling skilled trades positions.
Dizzio and administration described the FY27 plan as a strategic, people-centered budget designed to protect contractual obligations and invest in student supports and staff capacity. He emphasized the numbers were still draft and that the committee will vote a number at a future meeting prior to the public hearing.
