Budget Planning Underway for School Year 2025-2026
The Harvard Public Schools annual budget request for FY26 strives to align our financial expenditures with our Vision Statement, District Improvement Plan, and School Improvement Plans. These foundational documents chart our course towards sustained progress and excellence in education. Our commitment to this strategic approach has positioned our district as a high-performing school system, consistently attracting families seeking top-tier education for their children.
The School Department’s budgeting process beings at the start of each school year. Teachers actively participate by submitting their needs for curriculum materials and supplies, fostering a collaborative environment within departments and grades. School Principals review and align the funding decisions with their School Improvement plans and then present these school based budgets to the Superintendent. Other key cost center managers, such as those overseeing facilities, pupil services, and technology, contribute their expertise along stakeholder input to present their budgets to the Superintendent. The resulting budgets are then further refined through a series of reviews with the Superintendent, School Finance Director and the School Commmittee Budget Sub-committee in public meetings open to all community members.
The FY26 preliminary budget was presented at a public meeting of the full School Committee on November 18, 2024. After engaging in insightful discussion and questions with the school’s cost center managers and principals, the Committee voted to approve the budget. On February 10, 2025, the School Committee met again in an open meeting to discuss increasing revenue strategies and an expense reduction suggestion made by the Superintendent and School Finance Director. The approval of these measures allowed the omnibus budget request to be reduced by $65,900 and the revised budget was sent to the Harvard Finance Committee for review. On February 27, 2025, the Harvard Finance Committee voted to recommend the entire school budget to the Harvard Select Board to be presented at Town Meeting.
Select Board Update: The Select Board of the Town of Harvard has voted to present a Two Tier Override to the town at Town Meeting on May 3, 2025. The Tier Two Override would include the School and Town’s full budget requests. Tier One requires cuts to staff and/or programs for the School Department. A no vote on either override would result in the reduction of up to 11.5 staff and programs at the schools. In order for either of these overrides to pass a yes vote is a required at both Town Meeting and the ballot.
Harvard Public Schools’ Budget Hearing took place on March 25, 2025:
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