School budget
The Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee voted unanimously at its March 20 business meeting to set the 2025-26 recommended school district budget at $116.8 million.
Acton’s share is $80 million , a 2.1 percent increase that consists of an operating assessment of $76 million and a capital assessment of $4 million. Boxborough’s share is $16.8 million, a 5.4 percent increase that consists of an operating assessment of $16 million and a capital assessment of $900 thousand. Each town’s share is determined proportionally using a three-year rolling average of enrollment by town as required by the regional agreement.
The vote on final approval by Acton and Boxborough Town Meetings will take place in Acton on May 5 and in Boxborough on May 12.
Looking to the future, school committee members expressed concern regarding financial forecasts that will likely continue to challenge the district’s ability to maintain three percent budget increases. These concerns reflect the context of rising costs that outpace inflation and increasing numbers of students with high needs despite declining overall enrollment.
Superintendent of Schools Peter Light, told the Committee, “What strikes me about this year’s budget as opposed to all the other years is that this is the first time where reducing services is impacting students who need it most. I think that it’s important to keep in mind just how thin overall staffing of the district has become.”
The district had reduced staffing by about 90 full-time equivalents over the past four years.
Despite staff reductions, Light shared that student subgroup performance in eighth grade mathematics in Acton-Boxborough is significantly outperforming districts statewide. “That’s a testament to the work that educators have done despite a lot of these reductions, but we also want to be really cautious about burn-out,” Light said. “We want to continue to have educators that stay here for twenty years and also keep in-district the youngest generation of educators because if we have to continue to cut them every year, we’ll end up with a massive experience gap.”
In response to ongoing financial challenges and continued enrollment decreases that are forecast to continue over the next eight years, the district announced immediate plans to explore options for the reorganization of schools. The district is in the process of hiring a consultant who will work with the School Committee on identifying options and associated costs. A request for proposals was sent out in March with a decision expected to take place at the April 15 School Committee meeting. At their March 20 business meeting, the School Committee and superintendent began discussions around a compressed timeline, and composition and charge of a steering committee who will lead this initiative.
Students must still take the MCAS but not to earn their diploma
At their March 20 meeting, the Acton-Boxborough School Committee voted unanimously to adopt a revised policy that aligns high school graduation requirements for Acton-Boxborough students more closely with Mass Core. The policy also specifies a set of courses that will replace the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment) tests as a measure of competency required to earn a high school diploma.
Use of the MCAS test as a high-stakes requirement for high school graduation has been in effect since 2003 and was repealed by voters at the statewide election on November 5, 2024. The law, which took effect in January 2025, places the onus on local school districts for determining whether students have met the state’s competency requirements.
In order to receive a diploma, AB high school students must earn 100 credits during their high school career, attain passing grades as outlined in the high school’s program of studies, and demonstrate mastery of a common core of skills, competencies and knowledge that align with the state’s academic standards in specific content areas which, beginning with the class of 2026, includes ninth and tenth grade English, algebra 1 and geometry, and biology or physics or equivalent courses.
In the absence of an objective measure, just what is meant by mastery continues to elude educators, district leadership teams and state policy makers.
Acton-Boxborough School Committee member Liz Fowlks, who currently serves as the chair of the Policy Subcommittee, reported on feedback from AB educators who suggested that satisfactorily completing coursework may not demonstrate mastery, a sentiment shared by members of the Massachusetts Board of Education and which begs the question of how students might demonstrate mastery so that they’re not “passed along before they are ready.”
MCAS will continue to be administered to students in grades 3-8 and 10 in compliance with federal education law which requires states to assess student achievement. The test serves as a general outcome measure that assesses proficiency in core subjects at the individual, school, district, and state levels, informs stakeholders where to direct resources to improve student outcomes, and is a component of the state Department of Education’s accountability system.
Diane Baum is the School Committee beat reporter for the Acton Exchange. She served on the Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee from 2015 to 2021.