Stoneham Schools Freeze Hiring, Cut Services Amid $600,000 Mid-Year Budget Crisis

STONEHAM — March 20, 2025 — Stoneham School Committee hears bleak mid-year budget warning, freezes all hiring effective immediately. Superintendent David Youngberg told the committee Thursday that the district faces a worst-case fiscal year 2025 deficit of roughly $280,000 after years of depleted reserves, with a $102,000 agency nursing contract, a McKinney-Vento transportation line projected to reach $65,000 against a $40,000 budget, and a state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education order requiring the district to restore bus service for students living two or more miles from school by April 28 — an obligation estimated at $50,000 to $60,000. With only $18,000 left in the substitute teacher line and no discretionary reserves remaining, Youngberg proposed cutting the landscaping contract from $52,000 to $25,000, reducing custodial daytime coverage, drawing down two federal special education grants to zero, and seeking community volunteers for lawn mowing and classroom coverage. "We are past the bone — we are amputating at this point," said committee member Melanie Sordillo. A Proposition 2½ override vote on April 1 is the central variable shaping next year's budget, which already carries proposed reductions of 27 certified and 12 non-certified staff positions.