Interim Superintendent Thomas Raab presented a $55,029,061 proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 to the Scituate School Committee on Monday night, representing a 4.5 percent increase over the current year. The proposal is characterized as a level-services budget, meaning there are no proposed staffing cuts, and any shifts in funding are tied to specific curriculum needs. Thomas Raab emphasized the collaborative effort behind the numbers, stating, Everything that you hear this evening will be consistent with our strategic objectives of teaching, learning, and leading, communication, finance, facilities, personnel, and technology. This year’s presentation featured a new format, with department heads and principals providing five-minute updates on their specific budgetary needs and successes, such as the math team’s impressive 48-point showing during a recent competition in Cohasset.

The elementary principals highlighted a significant push for equity across the district’s aging buildings, specifically focusing on furniture replacement and technology. Principals Mary Oldac and Tracy Rarden both advocated for math specialists to address performance gaps, while Jackie Fronello outlined a plan to refresh Chromebooks for grades three through five. Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch framed the evening’s discussion around the district’s ongoing curriculum management cycle, noting, The curriculum plan and cycle shows we are implementing this current year the new history social studies program in 6 through 12. Significant investments are also being made in math fluency programs and science materials to support hands-on learning, which Maria Fenwick questioned by asking, I know that math’s kind of been our focus because we’ve seen performance and assessments and so on. Help me understand a little bit about how that works?

Special Education and Athletics remain stable pillars of the budget, despite rising costs in other sectors. Director of Special Education Michelle Bobert reported that out-of-district tuition costs have stabilized around $3.9 million, noting, Our students on IEPs here are in general ed most of the time and so all the resources that we for the whole district helps all our kids in special education. Meanwhile, Athletic Director Scott Payne described a successful uniform replacement cycle and the addition of a new golf simulator funded by a local donation. Carey Borkoski raised questions regarding the oversight of such outside funding, asking, I’m wondering is this even our purview to be thinking about the athletic budget alongside what boosters raise? I’m just curious to see like what they’re paying for versus what we’re paying for.

Committee members expressed appreciation for the detailed storytelling provided by the department leaders. Janice Lindblom reflected on the clarity provided by the long-term planning, saying, I was really reflected on how helpful it is to have the curriculum review cycle. We saw that it was so clear when everyone was presenting just like at what stage their department is. Peter Gates suggested that the district should clearly communicate budget reallocations to the public ahead of Town Meeting, advising, I think when you do when you prepare something for town meeting, maybe that talks about the negative numbers on some of these schools like how you’ve been explained to show how the reallocation explanation. Chair Nicole Brandolini concluded the hearing by praising the new presentation style, noting, I think it’s interesting. We’ve never approached our budget this way and I think that this is an interesting perspective to kind of see how it results the way it does.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:04