At its March 12 meeting, the Marblehead School Committee began discussing override options to help restore deep budget cuts planned for fiscal 2027.
As directed by the town, the district delivered a level-funded budget that includes more than a dozen staff layoffs. Now the town is requesting an additional $1.5 million in cuts.
“I’m not interested in backing a band-aid situation,” School Committee member Melissa Clucas said about an override. “I’m interested in backing something that structurally fixes the problem.”
Committee members said any override request should account for teachers’ contractual raises, which are expected to reach their highest level next year.
“This year’s bad, next year’s going to be way worse,” said Superintendent John Robidoux. “We need to plan now for the future, too.”
As members debated how large an override request should be and how it should be structured, Robidoux added, “The simple answer to the question is: a level-services budget that we started this whole conversation with back in October is what I would say we go for.”
According to Assistant Superintendent for Finance Mike Pfifferling, that amount would be about $1.7 million.
“We would still only maintain what we currently have without putting anything extra into programming,” Robidoux said.
Clucas and other members said they would also like to include funding for full-day kindergarten. Currently, families pay about $4,000 a year for full-day kindergarten.
Committee member Henry Gwazda encouraged the board to come to its March 19 meeting with proposals for three tiers of possible overrides, similar to what town officials are exploring.
“I don’t want to fall behind,” Gwazda said. “We’ve been ahead (in the budget process) this whole time, and I don’t want to be caught flat-footed when it’s time to ask the town for more.”
Several members of the Finance Committee (along with Select Board Chair Dan Fox) attended the meeting, explaining why the town is asking for an additional $1.5 million in cuts. The town is proposing a “reframing” of how school employees’ benefits are covered.
Pfifferling questioned the accuracy of the $1.5 million figure and was expected to meet with town Finance Director Aleesha Benjamin to review the number further.
Once that figure is confirmed, Pfifferling and Robidoux will begin looking at ways to achieve those additional cuts.
There are multiple budget-related meetings scheduled for next week, including”
Finance Committee Monday at 7 p.m. at the Mary Alley Municipal Building and online
Select Board Thursday at 1 p.m. at Abbot Hall and online
School Committee Thursday at 6 p.m. at Marblehead High School library at online
