Stoneham Schools Face $4.4 Million Deficit as Committee Hears Override Calls

STONEHAM — January 9, 2025 — Stoneham School Committee opens public hearing on a proposed FY26 budget gap of roughly $4.4 million. Superintendent David Jungberg presented a package of proposed reductions exceeding $3 million — including elimination of elementary music, cuts to English language learner staffing from 4.4 to 2.4 full-time equivalents, elimination of high school Italian and French, a 40 percent athletics budget reduction, and 27 certified and 12 non-certified staff position cuts — while warning the committee that the reductions still leave a remaining deficit of $1 million to $1.5 million with no clear solution identified. More than 50 speakers addressed the committee, including nurses who cited 9,266 nursing interactions at the middle school last year in opposing a proposed 0.5 FTE nursing cut, students defending arts and music programs, special education advocates warning of compliance risks and out-of-district placement costs, and numerous parents and community members calling for a Proposition 2½ override. "There is literally more fat on me to cut than there is at the school," High School Principal Bonni Bordi told the crowd. The committee also unanimously approved a privately funded overnight baseball trip to Cooperstown, New York, and voted to opt out of school choice for FY26; the committee will vote on a budget number — not line items — at its January 23 meeting, with a tri-board public meeting on a potential override set for January 14.