LYNN — The Lynn Public Schools held a public forum Wednesday night to discuss the FY27 budget and the school district’s priorities.
The meeting, which was open to the public, included an in-depth overview from Interim Superintendent Molly Cohen on the district’s strategic priorities, which she says were established during the 2023-24 school year and include enhancing teaching methods and resources, ensuring teachers are equipped and supported, students are provided “with modern educational opportunities,” and that they are “fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment and promoting collective responsibility for student outcomes.”
After Gov. Maura Healey filed the FY27 budget last month, Cohen says they now know that there is a $10.2 million incremental increase for next year from $317 million in FY26 to $327 million in FY27. What that means for Lynn Public Schools is that “there are certain cost drivers that impact how much of that money will be able to cover next year’s costs,” she added, which include contractual obligations, special ed tuition and transportation obligations, educating multilingual learners, other transportation contracts, and health insurance.
“Each dollar in the FY27 budget must connect to our district’s strategic priorities,” Cohen said. “This ensures our resources are not just managed, they’re mobilized towards student outcomes.”
As they look to balance both school needs with what the district can “sustain” and what the city can support, the “non-negotiables,” Cohen emphasized, include core instruction and ensuring that there is equitable access to rigorous learning for all students. They are also “hyper focused on teacher retention and maintaining our experienced and diverse educators,” and plan to “always keep multilingual learners and special education students in the center of our planning to ensure that they are, in fact, receiving rigorous instruction and attendance systems, along with safe and well-run schools, will always be top of our priorities.”
A public hearing on the proposed budget will take place on April 9, and then a final review will be submitted to the School Committee for approval. Cohen will then present the budget statement letter to the Lynn City Council. “I want to be very clear that thoughtful budget development takes time, especially during a leadership transition. Rushing decisions creates instability. This process is intentionally paced so we can listen, analyze, and align.”
When asked about the status of Dr. Jennifer Shorter, Cohen revealed that she has resigned. “Normally, we wouldn’t talk about personnel, but that was a resignation. Dr. Shorter is no longer with the district.”
As the meeting concluded, Cohen reiterated that discussions will continue at the next school committee meeting on Feb. 12 and that this will be an extensive process all throughout the winter and into the spring. “It will be a challenging budget, that’s for sure, and we’re going to have some difficult conversations around which are the core values and which are the priority areas that are going to rise to the top,” she said. “I think what’s most important is that this is really, truly the voice of the Lynn Public Schools community.”
Lynn Public Schools, which closed due to the snow advisory, will reopen Thursday.
