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.