School Committee accepts $132 million from City Council, postpones final vote on administrative positions

The school committee voted unanimously at a special meeting on June 23 to allocate a $132,847,897 FY27 budget approved by City Council last week, though whether the contested administrative positions will be funded remains an open question. 

The committee met specifically to approve a detailed breakdown of the district’s full budget, including where each dollar from the total $132 million would go. It did approve the total sum across four main sections used in the city’s bookkeeping system: personnel, operating expenses, equipment and special items. But members said they could not verify the detailed breakdown without the May 29 budget book, which was not provided at the meeting. 

“I’m hard pressed to be able to, with what we have here, give the superintendent the appropriate direction,” said member Edmund Tarallo. 

Assistant superintendent for finance & operations Chad Mazza, who prepared the detailed breakdown, told the committee that despite missing details, the breakdown reflected Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa’s strategy. 

“This document you have reflects the mayor who gave the funding, the city council who approved the funding, and the superintendent’s vision and priorities,” Mazza said. Committee members had expressed in past meetings that they supported Mendonsa’s approach to running the district, specifically with regard to creating new administrative positions at Waltham High School. 

Mazza confirmed that the personnel section for the high school includes several teaching positions that originally appeared in the mayor’s budget, including an ESL coach and three reading teachers. It also included some from Mendonsa’s budget, such as an HVAC teacher for the career technical education program. 

However, committee members were not comfortable taking a final vote until all the documents aligned with one another. 

In a second unanimous vote, the committee asked Mendonsa and her staff to return with a full budget book showing how every dollar is allocated across specific line items, and to make sure it corresponds with the May 29 budget book.

The extent of funding for administrative positions that Mendonsa and the committee members have fought for will only become clear when she returns with the final breakdown. 

Mendonsa said she believed the current layout was appropriate but reserved the right to return to the committee if adjustments were needed. McCarthy confirmed that any such transfers would require School Committee approval.

As of press time, the committee has not scheduled an additional special meeting to address the budget. Its first summer session is scheduled for July 9.