Weymouth School Committee Approves Goals, Eyes Three Modulars at Hamilton Elementary

WEYMOUTH -- February 1, 2024, Weymouth School Committee approved its 2023-2024 goals and the high school Program of Studies while receiving a sweeping facilities and budget update at its February 1 meeting. Superintendent Robert Wargo proposed adding three modular classrooms at Hamilton Elementary at a cost of $1.2 million, correcting an $800,000 figure that appeared in the presentation, and outlined plans to reopen the Johnson building, the district's oldest, built in 1951, as a ninth elementary school, a dual-language school, or an innovation school in fall 2025. Assistant Superintendent Brian Smith warned the committee that FY25 could be the hardest budget year since 2008-2009, citing a $2.5 million ESSER funding cliff, rising staffing costs, and a governor's budget that cuts charter school reimbursements roughly in half, a loss of close to $500,000 in state revenue, with a level-service budget potentially running one to three percent above the historical 3.8 percent annual average increase. The district's highest-priority capital needs total roughly $12 million, with approximately $6 million tied to finishing the Adams renovation, adding the modulars, and repairing boilers at Johnson and Talbot.