Gloucester School Committee Approves $54.2 Million Budget for Fiscal Year 2026

GLOUCESTER -- May 28, 2025, Gloucester School Committee unanimously approves $54.2 million FY2026 budget. The committee voted 4-0 Wednesday to forward the $54,228,897 spending plan to Mayor Greg Verga and the City Council, a $2.74 million increase representing roughly 5.32 percent growth over the current year. Superintendent Ben Lummis described it as the second-largest dollar increase in recent memory, built largely around special education investment, co-teaching expansion, and the transfer of approximately $770,000 in previously grant-funded costs, including instructional materials and transportation leases, onto the permanent operating budget. Health insurance costs rose 8.13 percent to $7.26 million, the highest share of the operating budget ever at 13.4 percent. Member Melissa Friend registered strong public objections to a plan to convert Beeman Elementary's library into a behavioral support classroom, citing structural inequity between older and newer school buildings and safety concerns about the school's proximity to woods. Mayor Verga, citing the city CFO's more readable budget document at gloucester-ma.gov, urged committee members to contact city councilors individually and noted the district is "one executive order away from chaos" on federal funding.