Acton and Boxborough residents had an opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns, and provide feedback on proposed school closures, school consolidation, and other school reorganization options at three public community forums hosted by the School District in October. The forums, which were held at the high school, the Blanchard Memorial Elementary School in Boxborough, and online, attracted 575 community members and were part of the second round of data gathering that also included over 230 focus group participants and a survey that, as of November 6, had over 1000 responses.
The extensive outreach, designed and implemented by Joe Costello, a director from the consulting firm District Management Group (DMG), is part of a larger District-wide and community-based strategic effort to identify cost-saving structural changes through school reorganization and to find ways to more efficiently allocate staff and resources based on student need while maintaining Acton-Boxborough’s focus on high standards of teaching and learning in the context of what will be a fifth year of economic uncertainty and escalating costs that continue to place enormous pressure on both the Regional School District and Town budgets.
In order to increase understanding of the specific budget pressures that the District and Towns are under, the Acton and Boxborough Finance Committees and Select Boards were invited to participate in a “tri-board” meeting hosted by the Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee on October 22. At that meeting, Boxborough’s Finance Committee Chair, Antony Newton, announced that Boxborough is likely to need an operational override for the fiscal year 2027.
Acton voters approved a $6.6M operational override last year.
Multi-year cost projections for the schools shared with the School Committee at their October 23 business meeting by the District’s Finance and Operations Director, Sheri Matthews, indicate that to maintain level services next year would require a total budget of $124.5m. “Two line items: Health insurance and salaries are driving over $6m of the 6.4 percent increase,” Matthews said. “It’s not a pretty picture, nor is it intended to be a budget proposal.” Both Matthews and Superintendent of Schools Peter Light, called a 6.4 percent increase unrealistic, given the communities’ resources.
Meanwhile, the Acton-Boxborough School Committee’s draft budget guidelines for 2026-27 direct the District’s leadership to develop a budget for next year that maintains current levels of service and incorporates the goals and forthcoming outcomes of the AB Forward school reorganization process. The School Committee deliberated on their draft budget guidelines at both their October 23 and November 6 business meetings, but have not yet endorsed the guidelines with a vote.
How much cost saving is school reorganization expected to realize for the District? Costello told the School Committee on November 6 that the answer to that will become clearer as the AB Forward Steering Committee has a chance to review community feedback and narrow the options for reorganizing schools and as the school district budget is developed. Costello stated that options that include school closure and that result in larger elementary schools have the most potential to drive costs down and optimize staffing efficiency.
The AB Forward Steering Committee is scheduled to analyze stakeholder input and review more specific information on cost projections for each of the school reorganization scenarios at their next meeting on November 18. At that meeting, the AB Forward Steering Committee is also expected to identify which of the proposed school reorganization options will move forward for additional community input and a subsequent School Committee vote.
Diane Baum is School Committee beat reporter for the Acton Exchange.
