Committee approves $37.6M school budget 5-0

School Committee · Meeting of January 29, 2026

SAUGUS — The Saugus School Committee voted 5-0 to approve a $37,606,374 fiscal 2027 school budget, adding four paraprofessionals at the Belmonte Middle School. Member Dennis Gould proposed the $121,308 addition, calling it necessary after the district lost four positions following more than $1 million in cuts to last year's budget. A finance-minded committee member warned that contractual raises near 5 percent will keep outpacing projected town revenue growth of about 4 percent "next year as well." During public comment, longtime Belmonte paraprofessional Pascariello said she often serves as an informal counselor and described a third-grade classroom sharing one decades-old social studies textbook among three students.

A member cited enrollment data showing English learners up 108 percent and low-income students up 57 percent even as staffing fell 13 percent.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of January 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.