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Editor’s Note: Earlier this summer, we sent our intern Xiyue Eric Han out to meet public officials in Winchester and ask them what they do when it comes to town government. Here’s what he found out.
Most people in Winchester only hear about the School Committee (SC) when something goes wrong, whether it is a program getting cut, fees rising or a staff position disappearing.
The committee is made up of five members, elected to three year staggered terms, with roughly one seat on the ballot every March.
The board oversees a district of roughly 4,300 students across five elementary schools, McCall Middle School, Winchester High School and a preschool while running on a fiscal year 2027 budget of $73.5 million. That is the largest chunk, 43%, of the town’s $171 million budget.
The committee’s duties can be broken down into four main jobs, and a long list of things it cannot do. The difference is key to understanding the power of the SC and the extent of said power.
The four jobs
- Hires and evaluates the superintendent
This is the big one. The committee picks the person who runs the district on the day to day. Dr. Frank Hackett currently fills this position.
The SC reviews their performance annually and has the ability to replace them. How the schools actually operate will flow through this hire.
- Builds the budget
The SC assembles and approves the school budget, then defends it at Town Meeting.
- Sets policy
The committee sets district-wide rules on curriculum adoption, technology, attendance, graduation requirements, student safety, etc.
- Negotiates with the teachers union
Contracts with the Winchester Education Association.
What it can’t do
How the School Committee handles money is one of the most common misunderstandings about what the body can and can’t do.
The School Committee doesn’t actually have the power to spend anything. It requests and the Town Meeting appropriates.
The 32.5 positions cut this spring were part of a “bridge budget” that is lasting one year, which Town Meeting adopted in May. This came after the rejection of the $11.5 million override in March.
The second big one is anything involving any specific child.
“The day-to-day operations of the school district, all of that falls under the superintendent’s jurisdiction,” said John Bellaire, the newest member of the School Committee, joining back in March.
That is most of what the majority of parents want to talk about: course placement, special education services, a problem with a particular teacher, a schedule, a bus.
“Those all are school staff decisions and principal decisions and superintendent decisions that the School Committee doesn’t have the authority to make,” Bellaire explained.
What the body can do is set direction and evaluate if the district got there. In sum, a complaint about a certain child’s special education program would be directed to the school while a concern about how the district handles special education would be a committee conversation.
The committee also stays out of the chain of command below the superintendent. Principals report to the superintendent and the superintendent evaluates them. Members will talk to a teacher or principal who reaches out, but they do not direct them.
How decisions are made
Within the School Committee is two subcommittees, one for policy and the other for budget, each with two members.
An issue will typically start here. The two members will meet with the superintendent and relevant staff, work through the plethora of options, and bring a recommendation forward for the full committee. The group of five then asks questions, publicly debates, then votes.
The arguing-in-public part is not optional, rather required under Massachusetts’s Open Meeting Law, where deliberation has to happen where people can watch.
“We can’t get School Committee members to go down to Starbucks and to talk about things and make decisions there, and then come into a meeting and then just immediately vote something,” Bellaire elaborated. “We all deliberate in the public eye.”
Votes aren’t always unanimous. Back in June, the committee was split 3-2 on athletic fees, opting for a flat $675 per sport with a family cap at three activities for the 2026-27 school year.
Bellaire and Chair Tim Matthews were the two no votes. Both argued for a tiered structure that charged pricier sports, such as hockey, more.
“We always have some productive disagreement among each of our members,” elaborated Bellaire. “But overall, you know, we have been able to work well together and understand the different priorities and perspectives that people are bringing to the sets of issues in front of us.”
The majority framed it as a flat rate one-year bridge and said a fuller review would follow after a new athletic director is hired.
New director Wayne Puglisi was hired earlier this summer.
Public comment
“Public comment is always helpful,” Bellaire explained. “I think any opportunity that we get to hear directly from students, staff members, and parents about a concern that matters to them is really informative for the discussions that we have.”
Every meeting can be attended by members of the public and nearly every SC meeting is open to public comment. This can work in two distinct ways.
If something is already on the agenda, showing up gives the committee a reason to weigh it differently.
Bellaire gave an example: a parent explaining why a shade structure at the Lincoln Elementary School playground matters carried into the deliberation that followed.
The second is unexpected. You can talk about anything, including topics that the SC has never tackled.
Bellaire raised an anecdote where a parent brought up an issue on raising a gap in elementary science lab equipment. Although nobody voted on it that night, it can end up on future agendas.
Member’s contact information is posted on the district’s website, and you can contact the committee as a whole at schoolcommittee@winchesterps.org.
The money problem
“The biggest challenge that we faced this year was certainly the budget shortfall. We’ve seen rising costs, you know, across the board,” said Bellaire.
Winchester gets most of its revenue from property taxes, having little to no commercial tax base. 95% of the town’s property value is residential.
All the while, Proposition 2½ caps the annual increase in what a Massachusetts town can raise from property taxes at 2.5% plus new construction.
Costs have been climbing faster than that. Health insurance alone rose almost 19% in fiscal year 2026.
Simply put, the “coming in” can’t keep up with the “going out.”
The $11.5 million override on the March ballot was supposed to close a structural gap of roughly $5 million, with $9 million for operations and $2.5 million for capital. But, it failed, 2,558 against to 2,265 for.
The School Committee was left with no good options. The district eliminated 32.5 positions, including elementary math interventionists who helped catch struggling students early.
“That was a key service and support that we had for students and families,” Bellaire said. “That has been really important.”
Athletic fees went up. Bellaire described the goal as protecting “the core academic and instructional core” of the district. In other words, reductions landed on everything else.
It is important to take in the context. Winchester spends less per student than the state average. State figures for fiscal year 2024 pegged Winchester’s spending at roughly $18,700 compared to the state average of around $22,400. Lexington spent about $26,100 per student.
What’s next?
Bellaire outlined two academic priorities and one financial one.
The district is rolling out Arts & Letters, a new K-5 literacy curriculum, after a pilot last year that Bellaire explained produced phenomenal results and unusually positive feedback from teachers. Town Meeting funded the rollout back in spring, with a one-time appropriation of close to $600,000.
Next is math. Bellaire wants the committee to look hard at early elementary math “so that we can ensure everyone’s given a strong foundation when they’re starting.”
The financial priority requires longer-term planning. The SC must look at multi-year projections instead of an annual scramble, tied to the mission and vision that the group adopted last summer.
Winchester’s school system is special. In the words of Bellaire, “Winchester is really unique and how we really strive for excellence both in academics and then also in the arts and athletics.”
If you want to be heard
Regular meetings are generally Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., twice a month from September through June, at Winchester High School. Agendas go up on the town website two days ahead.
WinCAM broadcasts the meetings live and posts meetings for anyone who wants to watch them on demand.
Use public comment for district-wide questions. Take individual student issues to the teacher, then the principal, then the superintendent's office, in that order.
And pay attention in March. Five people control the superintendent, the budget request and the policy book, and this year’s seat was decided by about 325 votes.
Xiyue Eric Han is a student at Winchester High School. He has been an intern with Winchester News since summer 2025.
