Shrewsbury School Committee Unanimously Approves $94.4 Million FY2027 Budget Recommendation

SHREWSBURY — April 15, 2026 — Shrewsbury School Committee votes unanimously to recommend a $94.4 million FY2027 school budget after last-minute special education cost spike. The committee approved a $94,431,135 appropriation at its April 15 meeting, a 4.53 percent increase over the current year, after a surge of roughly $550,000 in projected out-of-district special education tuitions since February forced administrators to identify equivalent savings elsewhere in the budget. Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Margaret Belcido detailed how a series of rapid-fire changes — a potential residential placement at more than $380,000 per year, a guardianship change adding roughly $250,000, and a student move-in triggering immediate district liability — drove the increase in a matter of days. Superintendent Joseph Sawyer described the 4.53 percent figure as effectively equivalent to a 4.75 percent increase because Town Manager Kevin Mizikar will cover $200,000 in curriculum costs from alternative municipal funds, though Sawyer cautioned the offset is one-time and will not carry forward as a budget baseline. The committee also noted that the Massachusetts House preliminary budget, released the day of the meeting, proposes chapter 70 state aid at $160 per pupil — more than double the governor's $75 — which if enacted would generate roughly $496,000 in additional town revenue and ease pressure on the FY2027 operating picture.