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EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was submitted by eighth-grade students from the McCall Middle School for their annual civics project. These essays have not been edited by Winchester News for grammar or content. This essay is being presented by Quinn Pray, Matt Ryan, Yasmin Reis, and Rohan Upadhyaya.
As 8th grade students at McCall, we didn’t really understand how funding for our school system worked. Through our civics action project, we learned a lot about how the town budget works, and the issues that Winchester Public Schools now faces due to a failed override in March. When this proposed override did not pass last spring, it caused a major budget deficit that will affect our education system for years to come, along with other town services. Now that we, the students, know more about what’s at stake, can we convince the adults to support passing a second override?
We learned that this failed override and resulting budget deficit, projected at $3,583,771 for FY 2026, is the primary reason for the lack of funding for schools. It has created major issues regarding future school staffing and resource allocation. Teacher salaries, rising costs of healthcare, and general inflation everywhere are some of the main drivers of the school budget deficit, and town property taxes, which are Winchester’s leading source of income, have already reached their cap. This means that the schools spend more than they have, leaving little financial flexibility since teacher salaries and benefits are a priority. This has led to a reduction in full-time teaching positions across the district, which will inevitably lead to increased class sizes, and impact the overall quality of education across all Winchester Public Schools.
Even with a failed override, Winchester needs to meet its budgetary obligations. The town has approximately $21 million in free cash available. According to Mass.gov, free cash is an “‘other available fund’ revenue source that may be appropriated after certification for any legal purpose by the legislative body of a town.” However, overspending this money affects our AAA bond rating (which is the highest possible credit rating for a town). The more we spend our free cash, the more our bond rating can decrease, which may lead to Winchester having to pay more to borrow money from the state. The town has decided to spend $3.2 million of this free cash to balance the agreed-upon bare-bones budget for the 2026-2027 year, which is similar to the amount that Winchester had to use to balance the budget last year (around $3.6 million), but spending the emergency funds available to the town diminishes our future financial stability, and relying annually on free cash will only get us so far without more revenue in taxes.
Now, Winchester is tasked with figuring out how to make the 26-27 school year operate smoothly with this bare-bones budget and has already started taking steps to reduce costs by making cuts. The cuts are said to be based on which programs and personnel are deemed needed versus wanted. For example, necessary programs like different learning plans must be funded, as they are legally promised. However, other programs that are deemed less necessary will likely be reduced or cut to ease the town’s situation. The Select Board, School Committee, and Finance Committee have been working closely together in recent town meetings to identify what fits within the existing budget while minimizing negative impacts. The only new and approved funding for schools proposed by the three committees has been focused on a new town-wide elementary literacy program, agreeing on a limited operating budget, (approved on May 7th), and granting funds for a feasibility study for Muraco, meaning they are studying how much it will cost to rebuild Muraco to meet the needs of future students. They have also been planning for the possibility of a second override proposal in November.
Regarding the schools’ funding issues, many things in our schools will need to be sacrificed, including many student-facing staff positions. We are seeing and will continue to see teachers being laid off due to a lack of funding. Altogether, 32.5 FTE (Full-time equivalent) positions will be cut, with elementary levels losing the most staff. While some of the reductions of FTE teachers, paraprofessionals, and other support staff can be linked to a modest decline in overall enrollment levels, losing educators in our schools means that our town’s students' education and support will take a major hit. These educators are the people who make the youth of the Winchester community feel comfortable, safe, and supported. Losing them means class sizes may grow, support services may shrink, and teachers’ workloads may increase. The town has already eliminated a full middle school team (the 6th grade McCall team Titans) for next school year. Remaining teams will likely have larger classes, and students will likely receive less individual feedback and attention. McCall Principal Mr. Lin told us in an interview that schools cannot give teachers a greater workload than what is written in their contract, and that they will do everything they can to support these teachers. He also explained that most educators who support students on IEPs, 504s, and other learning plans will not be cut, because their services are legally obligated. However, even if the cuts only remove 10% of our town’s educators and support personnel throughout Winchester schools, will students have the same opportunities and enough support? Also, this could mean more stress on teachers and increased behavior management issues, which may directly impact the learning environments for other students. All of these factors combined could create a drop in literacy rates, test scores, and overall readiness for the future. According to DESE (The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) Winchester spends a lower amount of money per student than most of our neighboring towns. Our per pupil expense sits at $19k as of 2024. Other towns, for example, Lexington are at $27k per student and Woburn is at $24k. Now, we are faced with cutting FTE positions and other staff and we wonder how all of this will affect students individually. As a town, we know that teachers are the backbone of Winchester. Our education staff are some of the people who advocate for our students, now it’s our turn to advocate for them. Without them, the town's future won't be nearly as successful.
Many Winchester community members stated that they didn’t vote for the $11.5 million override in November because they felt that amount requested by the town was too high and they did not agree with how their tax money would be spent. However, the now necessary drastic cuts to schools and town services will be dire. Our group believes that it would be beneficial for the town to propose a tiered override question for the ballot in November. A tiered override question is when 2 different override numbers are proposed to the town, instead of just one, like last March. One question asks whether Winchester can increase property taxes to collect a total of $11.5 million to fund town services. The second question would ask whether Winchester can increase property taxes to collect a total of around $8.3 million to fund town services. With this tiered approach, it may be more likely that at least one of them passes. If only question two with the lower amount were to pass, Winchester would still have to make difficult budget cuts, but $3.2 million in cuts is less drastic than $11.5 million, and this could ensure that more educators and town services can stay.
If a tiered override proposal can be part of the November ballot, the Select Board, Finance Committee, and School Committee will need to stress to the voters of Winchester specifically who and what could be cut, so that the community knows exactly what's at stake if neither question passes. If both questions pass, the town would collect the additional $11.5 million. Stoneham had a tiered override question this year because of similar budget issues. Stoneham asked residents to collect an extra $12.5M in their first tier and $9.3M in their second tier. The residents approved the lower amount of the tiered question and now the town will collect $9.3 million in additional property taxes. This means that Stoneham will still face cuts for next year, but they are proof that these cuts can be less severe than what Winchester is facing.
Our schools are our strength. Winchester has an excellent reputation for education, with many families moving here for the opportunities our schools provide, and it is a reputation that we students think is worth upholding. We encourage all Winchester community members, parents, students, and staff to think about what could happen to our schools, and the future of our town, without proper funding. We believe that we can best support our schools, students, and teachers by advocating for a tiered override question in November, which would help keep our valuable programs safe. Does the next generation of Winchester have your vote?
