Public speakers urge Lowell School Committee to preserve arts leadership and student-support staff in FY27 budget

At its April 1 meeting, the Lowell School Committee opened a public hearing on the proposed FY27 budget and heard more than a dozen students, teachers and parents urging the committee to preserve fine-arts leadership and key student-support positions, including the BRIGHT program, college-and-career counselors and freshman academy counselors. "I have autism…before I discovered the arts, I was a kid commonly in my shell," said Jordan Ferrer Falberg, a Lowell High School freshman, testifying in favor of keeping a dedicated arts chair.

Speakers told the committee that proposed cuts would reduce access and equity across the district. Alba Quilan Lamboy, a Lowell Public Schools social worker who described BRIGHT as an intensive classroom-based intervention, said LHS BRIGHT began accepting students on Oct. 28, 2024, has served 52 students so far, operated with a rolling admission and a capacity of 10, and had 69 referrals over two school years. Lamboy added that 33 students had experienced a suicide attempt in the 2025–26 school year and asked how the district would support those students without BRIGHT. Music teachers and students presented enrollment and staffing figures: David Grenier said the “Afternoons in the Arts” fund was $251,000 previously and was cut to $50,000 this school year; Jared Logan and other staff said about 519 students currently take music courses and sign-ups for next year reached roughly 700–716, arguing that personnel cuts would force program reductions.

Committee members and the superintendent responded that further detail was needed before final budget decisions. The superintendent acknowledged the speakers and said the head of Lowell High School — who was not present — should appear at next week’s meeting to explain school-level choices and site-council deliberations. Members asked the superintendent to provide a school-by-school spreadsheet of positions being added and eliminated, to identify which positions were funded with one-time ESSER dollars, and to clarify when staffing changes would be implemented (the FY27 budget becomes effective July 1).

Other items on the agenda included procedural votes: the committee approved March 18 minutes, granted permission-to-enter documents, voted to release three administrators’ executive-session minutes, and approved a set of routine personnel, awards and donation items; most roll-call votes were recorded as six yes, one absent. On district operations, Member Conway asked for an update on unsafe conditions at the Shedd Park tennis courts used by Lowell High’s team; the superintendent said he would follow up with the city manager. Member Baho moved that the superintendent report on district efforts to educate students about marijuana potency and health impacts; that motion passed.

What happens next: the superintendent agreed to return next week with additional budget detail and to request that the high-school head of school and principals be present to justify school-level staffing. The committee did not adopt a final FY27 budget at this meeting.