SAUGUS — The School Committee met Wednesday night with one thing on the agenda: voting for the FY26 budget. However, due to multiple members still being unsure of the budget, the vote was tabled.
“I was under the impression that this meeting wasn’t a regular meeting tonight,” Vice Chair Thomas Whittredge said. “It was supposed to be us in executive session talking about what’s going on. Because we haven’t even come to… (we’re not) close to an agreement. I thought that discussion was tonight.”
Chair Vincent Serino said that they could table the discussion; however, he also noted that the budget had to be in by June 30.
“Personally, we’ve met 14 times on it,” Serino said.
“Yeah, and we’re like the Karen Read jury. We’re not close,” Whittredge joked.
Committee member John Hatch tabled the budget discussion for their next executive session, as he was also not yet comfortable voting publicly.
Despite the lack of discussion, public comment was still open.
Precinct 7 Town Meeting member Frank Federico was the first to comment, thanking the School Committee for the time they’ve spent on the budget.
“My only recommendation, you guys have been more than generous inviting Town Meeting to the School Committee to review the budget, I do, however, think that I for one would like to see a little more representation in Town Meeting, almost like a sales pitch,” Federico said.
He continued that it could just be a synopsis of the budget for the Town Meeting members.
Serino mentioned that they have two presentations as a committee that the members are invited to.
“Unfortunately, a lot of the Town Meeting members that you’ve acknowledged in the past don’t attend this. So, even just a five-minute overview,” Federico said.
Next to speak was a parent of a student, and soon-to-be two students, at the Veterans Early Learning Center.
“I’m a parent of a soon-to-be kindergartener at the VELC. I have a son coming up, going into pre-k. … I think that really the concern right now, as it relates to the budget, is what parents are hearing in terms of layoffs and things that are happening within the community, and not knowing very clearly how that’s going to affect next year’s school services and the kids moving forward,” Shannon McCarthy said.
McCarthy noted how the community was growing and wanted to know how the schools would be meeting the growing demand.
“I remember watching a meeting and somebody saying, ‘Well, parents are unsure about sending their kids to Saugus Public Schools,’ and ‘Why is that?’ I can say that from what I hear at a community level, it is because of not knowing enough information around some of these things,” she said.
McCarthy mentioned that the Chapter 70 money wasn’t in the budget yet. However, Serino responded, saying it was figured into the budget.
“So the $36 million that we have includes Chapter 70?” she asked.
Serino said yes, but quickly corrected what he meant, stating that it was factored into the operating budget, where the $36 million came into play.
“Our overall budget is closer to $66 million,” he said.
McCarthy commented that the number was an important thing to know and that many parents don’t know that number.
“As a parent, it looks like we have $36 million. That’s where the disconnect comes from,” she said.
“That’s our operating budget. It’s where our salaries come from and everything like that,” Serino said.
McCarthy called for a bit more transparency around the budget number and making it easier to find.
“Another big question is, we asked for X, we got Y. That’s still less than what this committee asked for. So, what are we sacrificing? What are we not going to have next year?” she asked.
“I don’t think we’re not going to have anything,” Serino responded. He did note that things would need to change, but they wouldn’t know what those changes would be until they voted on the budget.
With the mention of transparency, Serino said, “We’re here every two weeks and we answer the questions, so I don’t know if it’s the schools that aren’t telling you. I’m just curious.”
Hatch suggested that there are a lot of people who come to their meetings every two weeks, and if you can’t make it, social media can be an avenue for information. He also reminded everyone that social media can have a lot of misinformation.
McCarthy agreed with him.
“I would suggest to anybody who wants more information, pick up the phone if you can’t come to a meeting and ask the questions,” Hatch said.
Serino also said that she could call or email him with any questions.
“It matters to us. You think we like any of this stuff? It’s a crap sandwich. If you guys can guide us a little bit, maybe it gets better,” he said.
At the end of public comment, a motion was made to adjourn to executive session to discuss selective bargaining and financials.
