Hanover School Committee Proposes Early Override Vote for FY26 Budget

Schools face $1.8 million gap between level-funded and level-service budgets

HANOVER, MA - October 30 - The Hanover School Committee is considering petitioning the Select Board for an early override vote, potentially between January and April, to address budget concerns for the upcoming fiscal year 2026.

At a special meeting Wednesday evening, School Committee members discussed the proposal, which aims to provide financial certainty and stability for the school district before critical planning deadlines.

"Given the failure of the last override, what can we do as a town, what can we do as a committee to reduce the anxiety and instability that surrounds this funding crisis that we find ourselves in?" said committee member Libby Corbo.

The proposal suggests holding a special election prior to April 1, allowing voters to decide on an override before the school district's April 15 deadline for notifying union members of potential layoffs.

Corbo emphasized that the proposal is not meant to be only for the school budget. "The purpose of this proposal was never to be exclusionary to the town," she said. "I've included some language in this that, again, invites the town to consider this as a town-wide override election, special election prior to town meeting."

The committee believes an early decision on the override could benefit both the school district and the town in budget planning. It would allow the district to avoid presenting dueling budgets at town meeting, as occurred last year.

"If an override does pass prior to April 1 and we can bring that override budget to town meeting, town meeting still needs to do its deliberation," Corbo explained. "Town meeting still needs to appropriate the funds. However, you wouldn't need a dueling budget."

The school district is currently facing a projected $1.8 million shortfall between level-funded and level-service budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. This figure has decreased from the initial estimate of $2.2 million presented just a week ago.

Superintendent Matthew Ferron cautioned that even with this slight improvement, significant cuts may be necessary if additional funding is not secured.

"The types of options that would be, some of the options for your consideration at $1.8 million are gonna be very stark," Ferron said. "There will definitely be personnel cuts, but very significant changes in some basic services that might be around transportation, length of school day, there could be some pretty significant changes."

Committee members expressed support for the proposal, viewing it as a proactive approach to addressing the district's financial challenges.

"I think we learned so much last year," said committee member Rachel Hughes. "And I think we just have to take every opportunity to be bold this year, I think. And having new ideas and pushing the boundaries a little bit is where we need to be."

The committee voted unanimously to approve the petition to the Select Board. The document has been posted on the school committee's website for public review.

While the proposal sets a new precedent for the town, committee chair Pete Miraglia acknowledged the unusual circumstances. "We are in unusual times. And I think this is us trying to be really proactive and thinking all the way through all the steps to town meeting and to the ballot and learning from what happened last year."

The next step will be for the Select Board to consider the petition. If approved, it could lead to a special election on the override question before the traditional May town meeting.

The town manager is scheduled to present all department budgets, including the school budget, on Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m.