SCITUATE — September 28, 2026 — Scituate’s schools are on track for an increase of just about $400,000 in fiscal 2028, less than 1%, after recent years of close to $2 million, the School Committee heard Monday. With new growth slowing and health insurance, retirement and vocational tuition costs climbing, the district has already frozen its current budget and is holding back 20% of its expense budget.
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The forecast came from the town’s financial forecast committee of school, Select Board and finance officials, which met the Friday before. Superintendent Dr. Thomas Raab told the School Committee that fiscal 2028 will be a struggle.
On revenue, the town is not seeing the new growth it once did. New growth ran close to $2 million through fiscal 2024; the projection now is $700,000 or $800,000. On costs, the district is facing vocational technical school tuitions that were not fully budgeted, employee health insurance increases of 8%, 9% and 10% over the last couple of years, and a Plymouth County retirement assessment rising 10% or 11% a year until it ends in fiscal 2032.
Under a longstanding agreement, the schools receive two-thirds of what is left after shared costs are subtracted and the town receives one-third. Even with that split, the schools are looking at about $400,000 more next year, compared with increases of 4% in recent years.
Raab has sent administrators a memo freezing the fiscal 2027 budget and shared the same memo with all staff. In practice, 20% of the expense budget is being held in reserve: a department with a $5,000 line can spend down to $1,000 and no further. The superintendent cited an unknown winter after last year’s heavy overtime, and said money left in revolving accounts can roll forward into fiscal 2028.
The town does not want to be in this position, but we are. And I think we have to come out early and say it and be honest and then commit to a transparent process.
— Thomas Raab, Superintendent 1:29:51
Over the next couple of weeks, department chairs and principals will build fiscal 2028 budgets two ways: level funded, with no increase, and level services, the cost of keeping things as they are. The superintendent expects the final number to land somewhere in the middle. The district holds a public budget hearing in January and town meeting is in April.
The squeeze has already reached the capital plan. The capital planning committee, meeting last week, kept a $400,000 replacement of the floor in the high school’s small gym in the fiscal 2028 plan and pushed back a project of about $1.9 million to improve the high school’s HVAC system, primarily to serve the second floor.
The committee previewed fiscal 2027 budget transfers it will vote on at its next meeting. Gas utilities would rise $115,000, electricity $22,000 and rubbish collection $24,000. Teacher salaries would increase $98,893, mainly for lane changes, and guidance salaries $72,610 to correct an error. Private school tuitions would drop $260,257 as expanded in-district special education programs keep more students in the district. The overall total is unchanged.
