Marshfield School Committee Approves $60.3 Million Budget for FY26
Budget represents 4.5% increase, includes funding for technology and Chromebooks
MARSHFIELD - April 15 - The Marshfield School Committee votes to approve a $60,336,636 budget for fiscal year 2026, representing a 4.5% increase from the previous year. The committee rescinded their previous budget vote from January to approve the new figure at their April 15 meeting.
Tom Miller, Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance, explains that the approved budget is slightly below the district's level service needs, which would have required a 4.76% increase.
"That 4.5% is still slightly off of our level service, which was 4.76%. The delta is about $112,000," Miller says.
The budget approval comes after collaboration with town officials to secure additional funding beyond the initial 3% allocation. The Advisory Board identified approximately $272,000 to help close the gap.
The total budget includes $59,705,002 that appears in Article 3 of the Annual Town Meeting warrant, plus an additional $631,634 in Article 6 of the Special Town Meeting warrant.
Miller breaks down the additional funding in Article 6, which includes approximately $19,000 for homeless transportation, $236,000 in Medicaid reimbursements, $100,000 for classroom technology, and $276,000 for Chromebooks.
The Chromebook funding allows the district to outfit second, sixth, and ninth grades with devices. Miller notes that the district has been leasing devices over three to four-year periods to reduce annual costs, but the new funding will allow outright purchases.
"This $276,000 is going to allow us to outright purchase, which is going to allow us to use technology to increase our other voluminous technology needs across the district," Miller explains.
Committee Chair Sean Costello emphasizes the importance of using the full $60.3 million figure as the starting point for next year's budget discussions.
"It is very important to us that the number that we're working on for next year as we create our FY27 budget is the number that includes that free cash allotment and not a number that does not include that," Costello says. "Because that will impact our budget for years to come."
Costello also calls for new revenue sharing agreements with the town, suggesting the committee craft a proposal in a public session to share with the Select Board.
Miller explains the importance of having formal agreements regarding revenue projections and free cash allocation, noting that without such agreements, there's potential for budget manipulation.
"If that is not in place in a free cash agreement... for health insurance, you could say health insurance is going to be budgeted for $15 million, comes in at 12, there's three million in free cash," Miller says. "If that is not then allocated 50-50, 1.5 schools, 1.5 municipality, and it goes three million to the municipality, that's where that checks and balances need to be with those two agreements."
The committee expresses optimism about working with town officials on new agreements, with Costello noting that previous agreements from 2012 are no longer valid as they haven't been followed for several years.
"I'm going to put faith in our Select Board, and faith in our town administrator to follow any sort of agreement that we come up with," Costello says.
The committee votes unanimously to approve the new budget figure.
Other items discussed at the meeting include:
- A presentation on testing data from Marshfield High School, showing strong performance on PSATs, SATs, and AP exams
- An update on the district's wellness policies, with minor language changes approved
- A discussion on defining community partners for the purpose of sharing information through school channels
- A mid-cycle goal review for Superintendent Patrick Sullivan
- Approval of meeting minutes from February and March
The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for late April, just before Town Meeting.
The committee also observed a moment of silence for Phil Johnston, a former state representative for Marshfield who recently passed away. Costello noted Johnston's extensive public service, including roles as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Dukakis Administration and Regional Administrator for the United States Office of Health and Human Services under President Clinton.
"He was somebody I was very close with, but certainly was somebody who influenced a whole lot of people around Marshfield," Costello says. "He was one of Marshfield's most active residents."