Duxbury School Committee Debates Budget Amid Uncertainty
Potential program cuts loom as town delays override decision
DUXBURY - January 9 - The Duxbury School Committee grappled with uncertainty surrounding the fiscal year 2026 budget during their recent meeting, as the town has yet to determine an override amount, leaving school programs and staffing in limbo.
Committee members expressed frustration over the delayed budget process, which typically begins in October. The lack of a concrete override figure from town officials is complicating planning for the upcoming school year.
"We don't even have a number," member Kellie Bresnehan lamented. "So that's what I thought the answer was going to be, but I think that's frustrating" Kathryn Marshall responded.
The uncertainty is particularly concerning as course selection materials for the next school year have already been distributed to middle and high school students. However, some of these programs may not be available without an override.
"They will not be available if it's not an override," Bresnehan confirmed, highlighting the stakes of the budget decision.
The impact extends beyond students to faculty as well. "Imagine being a high school kid," Bresnehan said. "Or middle school or high school. We don't know what to choose. Or a teacher teaching those classes. You know, is your section going to be gone? Is your whole class going to be gone?"
The school committee has already presented two budget scenarios: a "real needs" budget and a level-funded budget up to 2.5 percent. Their recommendation now awaits action from town officials.
"The school committee has made our recommendation," Laurel Deacon stated. "Obviously, the two pieces. And so my understanding is that now it's essentially the responsibility of the town to go through."
The committee noted that while they must review the school budget in detail, it appears as a single line item in the town's overall budget. This meeting marks the first opportunity for the School Committee, Select Board, and Finance Committee to jointly discuss the potential override.
"Hopefully this will prompt a lot of conversation in the community and people taking advantage of the opportunity to discuss the benefits of those things," Deacon said.
In other business, the committee reviewed several updated nondiscrimination policies as part of their ongoing policy review process. These updates, largely based on Massachusetts Association of School Committees guidelines, include revisions to harassment and retaliation procedures.
Member Matt Gambino, who presented the policy updates, explained, "We have the policy subcommittee that met last month to go over fairly... fairly good number of policies, most are revisions."
The revised policies cover areas such as nondiscrimination on the basis of sex, sexual harassment, and civil rights grievance procedures. Some policies required extensive rewrites due to significant changes in language and content.
"A.C. and A.C.R. are both nondiscrimination policy, including harassment and retaliation," Gambino said. "Again, they're replacement policies of the existing ones. They have extensive changes to them."
The committee plans to conduct a second reading of these policies at their next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 29. This meeting was rescheduled from Jan. 22 to avoid conflicting with high school course selection night.
As the budget process continues, the school committee, along with other town officials, will meet in the coming weeks to further discuss the override and its implications for the school district's programs and staffing.