North Middlesex School Committee hears FY27 budget proposal of nearly $70 million

School Committee · Meeting of February 9, 2026

TOWNSEND — North Middlesex School Committee holds public hearing on a $69.6 million FY27 budget as towns signal they can only absorb 2.5 percent. Superintendent Brad Morgan presented a 3.06 percent spending increase — $2 million of which is offset by the district's excess and deficiency fund — but town administrators from Ashby, Townsend, and Pepperell submitted a joint letter projecting only about 2.6 percent combined revenue growth, leaving roughly a $400,000 gap to close before the March 10 adoption vote. Morgan warned that social science positions once drawing 800 applicants are now seeing "single digits," with at least one teacher already announcing early retirement over class sizes that approach 30 in seventh and eighth grade.

The committee confirmed that the prior vote to close Ashby Elementary School is permanent and cannot be undone, and voted 7-1 to accept a pair of $2,000 student-discourse professional development grants — Alexander Bencudi casting the sole dissent — while unanimously accepting a $3,200 Credit for Life Fair grant and authorizing the superintendent to contract with Matrix Design Group for an ADA self-evaluation and transition plan.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of February 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.