By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Superintendent Tom Geary gave an overview of where the School Department currently stands in the fiscal year 2026 budget development process during the School Committee’s Jan. 28 meeting.
Geary said the School Department’s current operating budget for FY26 totals $33.2 million, which represents a 7.8 percent increase over FY25’s $30,806,245 spending plan. He informed the Villager in an email that the initial budget presentation given to the School Committee outlines where the School Department is “right now.”
“We still have three months until Town Meeting, so discussions will continue,” stated Geary.
Geary said during the Jan. 28 meeting that the School Department has been unable to add positions in FY22, FY23, FY24 and FY25, but said, “Multiple positions were reduced each year.”
“We treaded water budget-wise and what we have really done is play a shell game by shuffling resources between schools the last few years,” said Geary. “We have lost positions at all of our schools in core subject areas such as English, science and foreign language, secretarial positions, lower level classroom positions and Central Office positions. Every school and every department has been hit to varying degrees. Our administrators have done a fabulous job shifting resources around to address our biggest needs each year. But in my opinion, the jig is up. If you listened to me in past years, I have alluded that this time is coming. I and this group don’t have any more tricks up our sleeve to make it all work. This means we have to advocate and communicate. It’s time to be more open about our needs. I feel that often in the past, we have been the victim of our willingness to make the number we are given work.”
Geary said FY26 is going to be more challenging than previous fiscal years.
“I have said many times that no year seems like a good budget year, but this year is different,” said Geary. “It’s a very unique year. So much is up in the air at this point compared to typical years.”
Geary recalled that the School Department’s budget has traditionally increased between 3.5 percent and 4 percent each fiscal year.
“When we have a collective bargaining agreement as we have had in recent years that stipulates 2 percent increases for salaries, the way that the contracts are structured often costs 3 to 3.5 percent to cover those increases,” said Geary. “On top of this, we have other legal mandates such as special education, annual fees and subscription increases that we have to budget for. It’s the cost of doing business. When you factor all of this in, we have been stuck and stagnant because we have no room for growth. Our 3.5 to 4 percent gets eaten up by these requirements each year.”
Geary said school officials “have to understand and be realistic about the town’s current financial situation.” He said all of the town’s union contracts will be expiring at the end of the current fiscal year, including the School Committee’s current three-year pact with the Lynnfield Teachers Association.
“Collective bargaining is ongoing,” said Geary. “State revenues are down, the GIC (Group Insurance Commission) is projecting a significant increase in the town’s health insurance across the board for all staff members, and there is limited capital funds available.”
As presently structured, Geary said the FY26 school budget is a level-services spending plan that calls for a 4.6 percent increase over FY25’s budget. However, he is anticipating that the next pact with the LTA will give the teachers’ union’s bargaining units salary increases that will be higher than the 2 percent increases staff members have received the last three fiscal years. As a result, he said the current FY26 budget represents a 7.8 percent increase.
“At some point, we will finalize our collective bargaining agreements,” said Geary. “I think it will be irresponsible not to include something to account for that expense. That number would increase us to about 7.8 percent. I certainly don’t want to be negotiating in public so I won’t get into the components of that number, but it is an estimate I feel comfortable with. It certainly could be tweaked as we move through negotiations, so I feel it is responsible to include it.”
While Geary said the Administrative Leadership Team (ALT) considered adding a Lynnfield High School digital learning/civics teacher, a LHS STEM teacher, a Lynnfield Middle School computer science teacher and a shared elementary school assistant principal in the FY26 operating budget, he said those positions were not funded.
“I would love to have the new positions,” said Geary. “I think they are important and I think we need them desperately, but I don’t feel comfortable committing funds to new positions even though we need them until we have a clearer picture of what our contractual obligations are.”
Geary said the FY26 school budget will seek to have staffing that will meet class size guidelines. He said the budget will look to fund a new math curriculum in the elementary schools.
Additionally, Geary has currently budgeted just over $2.9 million for special education out-of-district tuition and transportation.
“I’ll be constantly reviewing that number as we go through the budget process,” stated Geary in an email.
While Geary said during the School Committee’s meeting that 99 percent of students are educated in all four schools, he said there are certain students who need to be placed outside of the district “when it is determined to be in the best interest of the student.”
“Like so many other costs these days, tuition and transportation rates have gone up rapidly and we really don’t have a lot of control over them,” said Geary. “We do our best to keep these costs as manageable as we can, but in the end it is a legal and an ethical obligation. I firmly believe that every student deserves every opportunity for a free and appropriate education.”
Geary said he and the Budget Subcommittee, which is comprised of School Committee Chair Kristen Grieco Elworthy and School Committee Vice Chair Jenny Sheehan, have been collaborating with Town Administrator Rob Dolan, the Select Board and Finance Committee throughout the FY26 budget development process. He said that collaboration will continue.
“I just hope that the annual budget process isn’t divisive,” said Geary. “I know it is a passionate topic, but we can’t allow it to divide groups and schools. It’s not helpful for the community or culture.”
SC weighs in
Sheehan said she and Elworthy established a goal for FY26 that seeks to “elevate the district.”
“The budget you have seen here today talks a lot about level-services,” said Sheehan. “We are not adding anything in or taking anything out. If we do want to elevate, we have to figure that out as a committee and as a town how we can get there. I have heard from parents at each level, but particularly at the high school in recent years about wanting more resources. That is what we want to get to as well. This is meant to be the start of that conversation.”
Elworthy commended the ALT for “adding opportunities and options for students without adding staff.”
“The high school is a great example of that with the number of electives that have been switched out and added,” said Elworthy. “I think last year the pain was reduced a bit for the students because the cuts happened at the Central Office administration level. We are cut to the bone. There isn’t a lot of room to wiggle anymore as it has been done in prior years.”
In response to a question from School Committee member Jamie Hayman, Elworthy said the school board will be receiving another budget presentation at a future meeting and subsequent meetings.
“This is an update and the recommendation thus far,” said Elworthy.
School Committee member Jim Dillon commended Geary and the Budget Subcommittee for “working closely” with Dolan, the Select Board and the Finance Committee.
“It’s one town, and working collaboratively with the Select Board, the Finance Committee and the town administrator to achieve these goals is going to be critically important,” said Dillon. “We all need to be on the same page to move all aspects of the town forward in a responsible way.”
School Committee member Kate DePrizio said the 3.5 percent to 4 percent budget increases that the School Department has typically received each fiscal year “doesn’t move the needle anywhere.”
“You are never moving forward,” said DePrizio. “We are just getting by.”
Hayman said he was “glad to hear this is not the final draft.”
“I assume that when we get to that final piece, we will have more information on requests from schools and what that will cost, we will have more information about class sizes, recommended additions and reductions, budget offsets and all of that stuff,” said Hayman.
Elworthy said, “We don’t have a lot of that information yet unfortunately.”
While Hayman said Geary and the School Committee have to work with Dolan and the Select Board, he stressed that, “Our first obligation is what is best for our students and what is best for education.”
“We have hit a number on behalf of the town at the expense of our kids, and have made some cuts that have impacted students for the last four years,” said Hayman.
“I appreciate that we have to start with level-funding and not cutting. I totally understand that. I think that the town is acting surprised. We went through a whole enrollment study to justify that we were going to need more classrooms. And (Select Board Chair) Dick Dalton was the first one to say that with more classrooms come more resources and more expenses. We shouldn’t be surprised that we hit that point. I want to be respectful of the town’s position, but I also want to say let’s continue to push forward and do what is best for our students.”
Elworthy said there are “no town officials who are surprised with where we are at.” She said the School Department has not had a level-services budget in a couple of years.
“Taking positions away is technically not level-services,” said Elworthy. “When we hit this point, it is time to have a conversation.”
In response to a question from Hayman, Geary said there will be a line item FY26 school budget that will be made available for the public.
“I look forward to that,” said Geary.