Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
The Silver Lake Regional School District is confronting a potential budget crisis that could lead to cuts to athletics, extracurricular activities, and significant staff reductions for the upcoming fiscal year.
At a Jan. 9 school committee meeting, district officials presented a preliminary budget outlining cuts of up to $2.18 million to meet a 2% increase target requested by the committee.
Superintendent Jill Proulx said the proposed cuts would not allow the district to maintain current class sizes or support its improvement strategy.
“Even though we’re talking about a 2% increase, the level service budget, as you’ll find out, is more than 2%,” Proulx said. “While these are our goals, we recognize that what we’re going to present to you tonight at the 2% increase that the school committee asked us to prepare is not going to allow us to do that, and it would require staffing cuts as well.”
The district’s level service budget for fiscal year 2026 is $45,244,783. After deducting anticipated circuit breaker reimbursement of $2.5 million, there’s a gap of $2,180,343 to reach the 2% increase target of $40,564,440.
To bridge this gap, the administration proposed three tiers of cuts. Tier 1 cuts of $150,792 have already been made, primarily affecting supplies and technology.
Tier 2 cuts of $638,490 would eliminate late buses, safety supervisor positions, and all athletic and extracurricular stipends at both the middle and high schools.
The most severe reductions come in Tier 3, totaling $1,580,000. This includes cutting 16 full-time faculty positions, five support staff positions, and two administrative positions.
High School Principal Michaela Gill painted a stark picture of how these cuts would impact students.
“Core classes such as math, science, ELA, and social studies must be prioritized, which would leave little room for electives, special programs, or our historically low enrollment courses,” Gill said. “As a result, student schedules will become more rigid with fewer choices and less opportunity for personalized pathways.”
Gill added that class sizes could exceed 30 students, and the district might need to change graduation requirements if certain programs are eliminated.
The proposed cuts drew strong criticism from Jess Drew, president of the Silver Lake Education Association.
“Over the past decade at least the school committee has asked our schools to cut faculty and staff positions either through straight out cuts or through the school committee’s decision to not fill a position. Year after year supplies have been cut, consumables have been cut, programs have been cut, textbooks and databases have been cut all to the detriment of our students who no longer have access to these tools that they need to be successful in today’s world.”
“Our schools cannot sustain staff cuts especially as our towns continue to grow,” Drew said. “We are calling for the school committee to step up with their leadership.”
Committee member Jeanne Coleman echoed these concerns.
“This budget does not even meet the required needs of our students,” Coleman said. “We will be kicking the can down the road and offering our students less.”
The committee did not take any action on the budget at this meeting. Members expressed a desire to wait for public input at a Feb. 12 hearing and for more information on state funding before making decisions.
To help offset potential cuts, the district is considering raising user fees for athletics and facility use. Mark Guidoboni, a member of the Safety/Facility/Fees/Revenue Committee, reported that initial estimates suggest these increases could bring in approximately $70,000 in additional revenue.
“It’s a shame we can’t offer everything free, and we can’t say to our communities they can all come in and use our school facilities,” Guidoboni said. “We have to pay janitors, custodians, and maintain and everything down to the toilet paper.”
The installation of air conditioning at Silver Lake Middle School is expected to add $75,000 annually to the district’s electric bill, further complicating budget discussions.
Committee Chair Gordon Laws suggested exploring options to refinance the district’s debt, which is set to be fully paid off in two years. The district currently pays about $2.2 million annually in debt service.
“It just seems like it would be utterly ridiculous to be two years out from an increase that sizable of free cash and you know not just cut our noses off to spite our face but disfigure our whole face entirely,” Laws said.
The administration will present more detailed information on potential revenue increases, including higher athletic fees, at the public budget hearing on Feb. 13. There is also a joint meeting with town officials planned for Feb. 16 to discuss the shared budget and the possibility of a prop 2 ½ override.