School Committee hears Fiscal Year ‘26 preliminary budget

Waltham may boost school spending by nearly 10% next school year, based on early figures from the School Department.

Chad Mazza, the school district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, presented the Fiscal Year 2026 preliminary budget at Wednesday’s School Committee meeting.

The proposed budget includes a 9.94% increase from FY 2025, rising from $115,242,653 to $126,695,969. This reflects an increase in staffing needs, an anticipated inflation for everyday costs — including food and cleaning supplies — and a potential reduction in federal financial support.

Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa said the figures represent a “student-centered budget.”

“We focused on what the needs are based on our assessment for this year in the hopes that it will improve the educational outcomes for our students for years to come,” she said.

The proposed numbers also take into account the potential for lost federal funding that comes to the district’s schools through grants such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title I. If those dollars go away, Mazza said, the budget has to absorb those expenses so “you’re not guessing at the last minute, rushing to try to figure things out.”

The preliminary budget also includes 31.07 new full-time equivalent roles, 29.07 of which are nonadministrator positions. These include four deans of students at the high school; a special education teacher at McDevitt Middle School; a medical assistant at Kennedy Middle School; and seven and a half interventionist FTE positions, which provide extra support to students struggling in English language arts, math and reading at schools throughout the district.

The positions contribute a 2.4%, or $2,753,999, increase in the budget. 

School Committee member James Zanghi said he was pleased to see the interventionists added to the list of positions. The additional help will provide stronger structural support for students who need it, he said. 

There is a public budget hearing on April 16 prior to a School Committee discussion on the same day. 

The School Committee will vote on the FY26 budget on May 7.