Weymouth Schools Vote to Opt Out of Choice Program, Unveil $76M Budget

WEYMOUTH -- March 12, 2020, Weymouth School Committee unanimously opted out of school choice for 2020-21 and advanced a $76.1 million fiscal year 2021 budget at its March 12 meeting. Superintendent Jennifer Curtis-Wiffle dominated the agenda with an extended COVID-19 briefing, reporting that schools remained open but that spring athletics had been postponed by the MIAA until March 30, school dances cancelled, and attendance policies suspended district-wide. Assistant Superintendent Brian Smith presented a proposed budget of $76,119,856, a 3.47 percent increase, including a $2.5 million needs list of which roughly $700,000 is compliance-driven; the committee must vote a final budget at its March 26 meeting to meet an April 1 deadline for the mayor's office. The committee also heard from Elizabeth Foster Nolan of the town's Complete Count Committee, who warned that $22 billion in federal funds to Massachusetts is tied to census response rates and urged residents to complete the 2020 federal census online, noting no citizenship question appears on the form.