School Committee approves $64.6M FY27 budget

School Committee · Meeting of March 26, 2026

Watertown School Committee voted 7-0 to approve a $64,590,019 budget for fiscal year 2027. Superintendent Dr. Galston said the plan closed a $2.5 million gap identified in January and produced a $700,000 surplus funding a special education coach, added high school staffing and a middle school family engagement facilitator.

Member Jessica Middlebrook pressed for an explanation of why a $7,000 community gift for an Armenian-language tutor was left out of the budget; Dr. Galston said the district instead plans a redesigned two-year Armenian curriculum. Committee member Lisa Kavoccia said she would support the budget but objected to calling it "level service," saying staff "had to twist and contort a lot of pieces to make that work." The budget now goes to the city council for final approval.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of March 26, 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.