Dear Lincoln Public Schools Families,

 

Happy chilly Friday! We got through our first snow event of the year on Tuesday – thank you for your patience and flexibility as we navigated the changing forecast. The weather looks to stay pretty cold into the start of next week, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that any future snowfall is brief and light.

For this week’s message I wanted to focus on the budget for the 2026-27 school year. I was able to present my proposed FY27 budget to the School Committee last night, which included presentation slides and a comprehensive budget book. I wanted to share with you some highlights from the proposed budget, along with the next steps in the budgeting process.

 

Proposed FY27 budget highlights

 

Lincoln Public Schools has a somewhat unique budget in that we have two distinct pieces: the Lincoln-side budget and the Hanscom-side budget. The budget for the Lincoln School and a portion of our central office operations are funded primarily through Lincoln town taxes, with some supplements from state and federal grants, whereas the Hanscom side of the budget (along with a portion of our central office operations) is funded through our contract with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). We work to maintain parity in services across the two campuses, but the funding sources are different.

 

On the Lincoln side, I am recommending what we call a “level service” budget that stays within the 2.5% guidelines recommended by the Lincoln Finance Committee. Level service means that we will continue to provide the same level of services next year that we have been able to provide this year. On the Hanscom side there is a new pricing model with the new five-year contract from DoDEA, so we are adjusting to some of those differences. But we will continue to provide the high quality of services to Hanscom children and families that we have historically been able to provide.

 

Because we saw a dip in student enrollment this year at both the Lincoln and Hanscom schools, the leadership team worked to identify places where we could introduce some budget savings for FY27, and we were able to do that in a number of places, in particular in our nonpersonnel budgets. We are fortunate in Lincoln to have generous financial support from taxpayers and the Hanscom contract, which allows us to offer high-quality services and resources – I believe we have a responsibility to use those resources as prudently as possible, and to always be looking for ways to improve our efficiency and budget stewardship without compromising the high quality of education.

 

We do not have any new initiatives planned for next year: our focus will continue to be on implementing the new K-8 literacy curriculum, working to provide academic and socialemotional supports for students, and ensuring that our AIDE values inform all of our systems, structures, and actions. This is a negotiation year with our teachers union, so we are not entirely certain what the financial outcome of those negotiations will be. But we are fortunate to have a highly collaborative and mutually respectful relationship with the teachers union, so we are anticipating a positive and productive process.

 

Next steps in the budgeting process

 

The School Committee will be having a budget hearing on December 18th, which is an opportunity for community members to hear about the proposed budget and ask questions. There will then be additional budget discussions in January, which could lead to potential changes, and the School Committee will vote a final budget by January 22nd. The Lincoln portion of the budget then goes to the Lincoln community for a vote at the Town Meeting near the end of March.

 

I would encourage you to read the budget documents and, if you have any questions or are interested in hearing a discussion of the budget, participate in the meeting on the 18th. Once the School Committee votes a final budget near the end of January, I will be sure to send out additional information to families.

 

Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend!

Parry Graham Superintendent