Last Tuesday’s School Committee meeting began with an almost 15-minute debate over the progression of the fiscal 2026 school budget recommendations. The discussion was between School Committee member Jamie Hayman, Superintendent Thomas Geary, and School Committee Chair Kristen Elworthy.
The conversation reached a boiling point when Hayman said “I don’t trust you, Tom,” in response to Geary questioning why he had not received notice of Hayman’s concerns before the meeting.
The discussion began during a motion to approve the minutes of the Jan. 28 meeting, which led Hayman to dispute the characterization of the budget presentation from that meeting as being ahead of schedule.
“Mr. Geary did not indicate a recommendation for an operating budget, but instead provided a summary and update with two options… It’s important to clarify some statements that have been made about the timing of this process,” said Hayman. “… Following the meeting, I went back and checked. I have the dates of every superintendent budget recommendation, public budget hearing, and Town Meeting dating back to 2017. The statement that we are early or earlier than most years is in fact not true.”
According to Hayman, budget recommendations from 2017 to 2020 came either in late January or early February, while in recent years, they have been in late February or early March.
In response, Geary clarified the overall budget process, which includes discussions with other town boards and Town Administrator Rob Dolan.
This process includes the annual budget workshop, which is typically held in November but took place in December this year. Additionally, the school’s capital needs were presented to the Capital Committee in early December—something Geary said had never happened in his time at the district.
An additional factor delaying a concrete budget is the ongoing contract negotiations with Lynnfield teachers, which could continue for months.
“We are currently early in negotiations with all of our unions, so it would be presumptuous to publicly communicate any discussions or numbers regarding those publicly,” Geary said. “As we get further into our negotiations, we will be able to have a better estimate of our contractual obligations.”
However, Hayman stressed at the meeting that the committee must submit a budget to the public hearing on March 18, regardless of whether negotiations are complete.
At the Jan. 28 meeting, Hayman pointed out two aspects of the school’s finances that should be discussed further: the one-to-one Chromebook plan for the elementary school and the projected class size of 15 students for kindergarten.
“That presentation, there was no thought about anything in there. We were talking about 15-person classes there,” he said at last Tuesday’s meeting.
Geary explained that the projected class size is another variable that is likely going to change, as move-ins continue to increase kindergarten enrollment.
“Tom did clarify last week that if the enrollment never budged then he would adjust the numbers… there are going to be adjustments to enrollment,” Elworthy said.
School Committee member Jim Dillon added that if the committee wants to see a set number for variables such as classroom sizes and teacher contracts in the budget, it is up to them to direct the superintendent to include those figures.
As it stands, Geary’s budget recommendation is a 7.8% increase, a figure that accounts for estimated contract obligations, level services that need to be met, and a $650,000 capital request for technology upgrades.
The proposed percentage increase is higher than in past years and reflects an effort by the committee and Geary to advocate for growth following several years of cuts in the district the past few years.
Regardless of whether further updates are made in the coming weeks, the budget book must be made available to the public for the hearing, with a final vote scheduled for the town meeting on April 28.
“It’s a big deal that the number is where it is, even without additions to the district, that’s a bigger number than we usually would have,” Elworthy said. “But, in the end, we just provide information. We explain what things mean… we vote on the budget we’re proposing to town, but we aren’t in charge of giving ourselves that money that’s given by individual voters in town.”
