Stoneham School Committee reviews $2.4 million restoration plan before May 5 Town Meeting

STONEHAM — April 29, 2025 — Stoneham School Committee reviews plan to restore programs with $2.4 million in additional funding before May 5 Town Meeting. Budget Director Leah presented a balanced FY26 spending plan at a special Tuesday meeting, bringing the district's total budget to $39,460,244 — still $265,131 below level service — after the Finance and Advisory Board secured $2,410,372 above the town administrator's original 3.5 percent offer. The plan fully restores the music program, elementary assistant principal, athletics ($77,000 direct plus an estimated $88,000 in new tiered user fee revenue), high school world languages, and the grade-eight middle school team model, while making partial restorations in special education, technology, and facilities. "I'm not devastated by this budget anymore," one committee member said, though members acknowledged teacher salaries remain "not even close to competitive." The committee will vote the line-item budget Thursday at 6:30 p.m.; Town Meeting is May 5. In a separate item, administrators delayed the Youth Risk Behavior Survey after 235 students — including 59 percent of middle school families — opted out, citing concerns about a different district's survey that drew recent news coverage; officials said YRBS data supports close to $1 million in annual grant funding for the district.