School Committee approves $58 million school budget 4-1

On Monday, April 13, School Committee members voted 4-1 to approve their Fiscal Year 2027 budget request of $58,204,287, though the district will still face a deficit of $178,309.

To account for the deficit, the Dartmouth Public Schools district is looking to tap into its kindergarten stabilization fund, which must be approved by town meeting members at Spring Town Meeting if placed on the warrant.

The budget decision comes after weeks of deliberations with town officials and cutting the initial proposal down by $1.02 million.

Budget cuts included the termination of one full-time kindergarten teacher position from the Quinn School, which will be open at the end of the school year due to a teacher’s retirement.

School Committee member Chris Oliver noted that he’s requested next year’s projected kindergarten enrollment and said if enrollment “gets to be too much” he wants to see the position put back.

“That’s the bottom line for me,” he said.

There are also $487,000 worth of cuts from the athletic, music and maintenance programs and cutting down proposed positions, including a human resources director, a maintenance position and technology positions that have been cut.

James Kiely, the assistant superintendent of finance operations, said it was a “significant amount” removed from the initial budget proposal.

“It did certainly diminish our request,” he said. “In order to move forward in attempts to compromise and collaborate, it was necessary to do that.”

Kiely noted that the town projected budget now sits at $58,025,978, as Town Administrator Cody Haddad has advocated for allocating $100,000 from the town’s collective bargaining reserve fund to the school’s budget.

Allocating this money to the school district will also require a vote at Spring Town Meeting, and will require a two-thirds majority.

Kiely said that it’s “another hurdle” but noted that Haddad is “prepared” to have the request on the Spring Town Meeting warrant for the consideration of town meeting members.

School Committee member Elizabeth Coughlin said that if the school committee had stuck with their original budget they would “move forward faster” and said that students “need to progress.”

She added that she’s “appreciative” of the town’s efforts to work on establishing better health insurance and is “thankful” the district has the kindergarten fund to rely on.

School Committee member Kathleen Amaral voted against the proposed budget, and has previously said that the original proposal “reflects the needs of the students.”