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Winthrop board approves $15.5 million FY27 operating budget after debate over class-size trade-offs
Summary
The board voted unanimously to approve a $15,497,070 FY27 operating budget (excluding nutrition and adult education), plus separate adult-education and food-service budgets, after members debated adding a teacher to address rising class sizes and town council appetite for higher spending.
The Winthrop School Board unanimously approved the FY27 operating budget and related spending items after members weighed class-size concerns against town-level fiscal constraints.
The board voted to approve the 2026–2027 school operating budget (excluding nutrition and adult education) in the amount of $15,497,070 and authorized the superintendent to present that budget to the town council. The board also approved a separate adult-education budget of $87,852.27 (including $58,000 to be raised in support) and a school food-service budget of $817,041 (with $0 to be raised). All motions passed unanimously.
Board members discussed whether to fund an additional teacher. Superintendent Dr. Foley said adding a requested teacher would raise expenditures to roughly 6.07% compared with a 5.4% increase without the position; he noted town-council skepticism about supporting the higher increase. Jason (board member) said he supported reduced student-to-teacher ratios in principle but was concerned that the town council would not back a 6%+ increase and therefore recommended against adding the teacher at this time.
Parents at the meeting urged the board to consider enrollment-driven staffing changes. Online commenter Amelia Arnold said the district had seen substantial elementary enrollment growth and asked when the district would treat new students as a revenue source to fund additional staff. Principal Violet explained that a recent influx of first-grade students (12 new students since the start of the year) has created unusual pressure at that grade level and described supports such as Title I learning lab, guidance and social-work referral that the school deploys as it identifies student needs.
Chair confirmed the board will add further budget deliberations to a future meeting if members cannot reach a final decision tonight. The motions to approve the operating, adult-education and food-service budgets were carried and the superintendent was directed to deliver the approved budgets to the town council.
