Weymouth School Committee Opens Hearing on $92 Million FY26 Budget Request

WEYMOUTH -- March 13, 2025, Weymouth School Committee opens public hearing on $92 million FY26 budget, citing a $1.9 million funding gap. Superintendent Melanie Curtin and Assistant Superintendent of Finance Brian Smith presented a proposed FY26 operating budget of $92,079,118, a 5.27 percent increase over the current $87,472,000, while warning that an expected town offer of roughly 3 percent growth would leave the district $1.9 million short. If the full amount is not approved, planned contingency cuts include returning seven elementary instructional coaches to classrooms and eliminating approximately 20 secondary-level positions, on top of two administrative positions already eliminated. More than a dozen residents and Weymouth Education Association President Mike Murphy urged the committee to submit a higher figure to Mayor Robert Hedlund's office, with long-time budget advocate Gustavo Pettus arguing that Weymouth has "never broken the 25th percentile" in net school spending among Massachusetts' 351 districts despite a decade of improvement. Michelle Campbell, 126 Thompson Road, drew the sharpest procedural point: "If we don't really ask for what we actually need, we're starting at the base level and we're just going to keep going down." The committee also voted unanimously to withdraw from Massachusetts School Choice for 2025-26 due to overcrowding, with a final budget vote set for March 27.