West Bridgewater School Committee Approves $18.6 Million FY26 School Budget

WEST BRIDGEWATER — March 10, 2025 — West Bridgewater School Committee unanimously approves $18.6 million FY26 budget, adding back one teaching position. The committee voted 4-0 Monday to adopt a fiscal year 2026 appropriation request of $18,609,916, a 5.47 percent increase over the current year — the smallest proposed increase in at least three years. Member Carrie Lazzardi moved to add $62,579 to the teaching services line, raising that cost center to $6,803,163, arguing the administration's right-sizing assumptions were "too aggressively" cutting positions and that the addition would preserve flexibility to protect specialist instruction at the elementary level. A projected $324,000 increase in tuition and transportation for up to 15 students attending Bristol County Agricultural and Norfolk County Agricultural schools accounts for a large share of the budget's growth; agricultural school applications remain open until April 1, meaning the figure could rise before Town Meeting, scheduled for the following week. The committee also voted unanimously to open three policies — IGC, IGC-R, and JL (Student Welfare) — for revision, with updated language to return in April following an insurance audit recommendation. Member Carrie Milton was absent.