On April 28, 2025 the North Reading School Committee voted to approve the Fiscal Year 2026 budget of $40,780,049 which represents an increase of 4.1% of the prior fiscal year. This budget is below level services and level staffing, meaning that in order to reconcile the gap of $597,752 the district needed to reduce staffing, programs, and services from what our students received in the 2024-25 school year.
These cuts are in addition to the reductions that were made the prior year that have also not been restored.
In order to close this budget gap several programmatic and personnel related reductions were necessary. The middle school programs for Computer Science and World Languages were reduced, and those offerings will now be General Arts offerings, similar to Robotics. In addition, our French Program 6-12 is being sunset, allowing only students who would be enrolled in French II and above for 2025-26 to continue learning the language in our district. All other students will have the opportunity to learn Spanish in grades 6-12.
Additionally, we also needed to reduce positions, including the following 7.2 FTE positions. The list below reflects the actual reductions as of May 1, 2025.
Administrative Restructuring (1 position)
Elementary Teachers (1 position)
Middle School/High School Teachers (4 positions)
World Languages and Computer Science
High School Special Education (1 position)
Paraprofessional (.2 position)
As always, each year there are resignations, retirements, non-renewals and other leaves of absence. Whenever possible, the individuals losing a position due to a reduction in force will be hired into a vacancy in order to minimize unemployment expenses and retain highly qualified individual employees. However, the number of positions that are being cut remains at 7.2 FTE.
What additional adjustments were made to balance the budget?
The School Committee has also reviewed fees and tuitions to address rising costs and as a result increases for the bus fees, as well as the tuitions for Pre-K and Kindergarten were voted on April 7, 2025 and increases for athletics, performing arts, and extra-curriculars were voted on April 28, 2025.
What are the concerns for FY27 and beyond?
For the past several years the Superintendent and School Committee have been discussing their concerns about the available revenue from the state and town. As discussed on April 28th and at many recent School Committee meetings, we have concerns that the budgetary impact in future years could include:
--Class sizes at all schools, leading to possible redistricting
--School Adjustment Counselors
--Administrative Coordinator positions
--Tech/Engineering Program
--Athletic Program/Arts and Performing Arts programs and courses
These cuts could potentially impact staffing, programming, and supports that are in place for students currently and would not be able to be supported in the future as operating costs increase each year by a rate that is higher than the funding available.
What are the budget drivers for the school budget for the school year 2025-26 and beyond?
Like all school districts, the majority of our budget is comprised of contractual salary obligations, which make up 81.9% of our total budget. This includes steps, lane movements, and longevity increases for eligible staff in the North Reading Public Schools and factors in savings through turnover based on historical trends.
Another major driver is the cost of Special Education services both in-district and out-of-district, including transportation for students to outside placements. The tuition prices for many out-of-district providers has increased at a significant rate in recent years, and the number of students needing services has also continued to rise.
Our operational building and fixed costs, as well as utilities, elementary enrollment, and the needs of our specialized programs round out the drivers for our school department budget.
Are these concerns unique to North Reading?
No, unfortunately the rising costs for operations have been a consistent need across the commonwealth and the budget drivers for our district are similar to those in many other cities and towns. The budget drivers in these districts are consistent with our own and we are committed to continuing the transparency around our needs to the entire community.
What are the Next Steps?
Our School Committee has engaged both Senator Tarr and Representative Jones who both recently attended a School Committee meeting to discuss the actions being taken at the State Level to address transportation, special education costs, and the funding formulas for districts. Our elected leaders have also advocated for state earmarks to address specific capital projects for our schools, including $50,000 for FY25.
Dr. Daly has also participated in the Day on the Hill and several legislative meetings in order to advocate for the needs for North Reading. The Assistant Superintendents and Directors continue to apply for and manage grants as another means of supplementing our budget. Last year we received $2,563,338 in state and federal grants to support opportunities for our students and staff.
At the town level we need to continue to identify sources of revenue and opportunities for growth. Many have asked about the need for a future override proposal and the Select Board, Finance Committee, and School Committee will continue to discuss these ideas along with the Town Manager, Superintendent, and Finance Directors for both the town and schools.
We are very thankful to everyone on both the town and school side who have worked over the past several months to help guide this budget process, especially Mr. Michael Connelly, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, who has been dedicated to each step in the budget development and has been transparent in communicating every detail on our budget page along the way.
The next step in our budget process will be for approval of the budget at the upcoming Town Meeting on June 9, 2025. We will continue to provide information and transparency about our budgetary needs as we move forward with the budget process for FY27and be sure to communicate any potential impacts due to revenue concerns with all stakeholders in the school community.
Sincerely yours,
Patrick C. Daly, Superintendent
