School Committee OKs budget including potential staff layoffs

School Committee members unanimously approved a budget that clears the way for potential layoffs.

Administrators said the reductions are part of their plan to meet Finance Committee recommendations to trim nearly $500,000 from their initial 2027 budget proposal and avoid giving Carlisle, Acton’s counterpart in the regional district, a higher bill as it takes on more costs in 2027.

“We didn’t bring you the wish list,” schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter told School Committee members during the January 7 budget hearing, underscoring that the administration didn’t ask for more this year, but instead cut back. 

Hunter previously warned that this would be the “most significant” staff reduction in her time in Acton.

For the K-8 schools, administrators budgeted a net decrease of 1.55 full-time equivalent employees. For Acton-Carlisle High School, a reduction of 4.15 FTE is expected. 

Committee members did not ask any questions or voice any concerns over the budget during the meeting, and congratulated Robert Conry, assistant superintendent of finance and operations, for the simplicity and directness of the presentation. 

Hunter said she was happy with the cooperation.

“I’m pleased to have collaborated with the School Committees and the Districts’ leadership teams to develop recommended operating budgets that met our shared objectives and that are consistent with the guidelines of the Finance Committees,” she told The Acton Bridge in a post-meeting email in response to a question about the potential layoffs. 

Regional School Committee Chair Tracey Marano said the budget “ensures that programs and services for CCHS students are maintained at levels that meet student need” and the cuts will create “budget savings that are passed on to taxpayers in Carlisle and Acton.”

An FTE is a budgeting and staffing measure used to describe workloads rather than individual people. One FTE equals the hours worked by one full-time employee. For example, two half-time positions would equal one FTE. Smaller fractions can be cut by reducing part-time employee hours. 

Asked how these reductions will affect staff and students, Hunter responded in an email, “The details and impacts of those decisions are not yet fully established as we continue to develop plans for the 2026-2027 school year.” 

Conry noted one known reduction in the budget presented to committee members: an English Language Arts specialist position at Thoreau Elementary School. The role has been vacant since the previous specialist retired last year; administrators plan to remove the position from the budget rather than fill it.

Representatives of the K-8 and high school teacher’s unions did not immediately respond to a Bridge inquiry about potential layoffs. A representative of the Thoreau Parent Teacher Group also did not immediately respond. 

‘Many cost drivers’

“There are many cost drivers and factors that shaped these recommendations,” Hunter said in her email, “including impacts on staffing related to declining enrollment, as well as operational items such as increased medical insurance and utility costs.” 

A shift in the balance of the regional school’s bill was one major driver of keeping costs down, Hunter said. 

Compared with last year, fewer Acton students are enrolled at CCHS, while Carlisle is sending more. As a result, Carlisle has to foot a larger share of the budget, with its contribution rising by more than 9%. This was combined with FinCom asking school officials to keep their budget increases to a minimum.

To help keep costs low and meet their FTE reduction goals, school leaders introduced an early retirement incentive. Administrators said the move could save money by replacing higher-paid veteran teachers with newer staff or by leaving positions open. Conry and Hunter confirmed at the School Committee meeting that three staff members had already opted in to that plan.

Next, school administrators were scheduled to share the approved budgets with Carlisle officials on January 15.