Methuen officials are scrambling to close a roughly $9.6 million gap in the public school budget as final votes on the city spending plan approach, and administrators warn that staffing and student services are on the line. Parents and educators say the gap, which officials describe as the amount needed just to maintain level services, could translate into larger class sizes and cuts to special education supports if the money does not materialize.
The $9.6 million shortfall surfaced in local TV coverage this week. As reported by CBS Boston, WBZ-TV reporter Kristina Rex noted that district leaders view that figure as the minimum required to keep current services intact next year. City officials told reporters they are weighing a mix of one-time transfers and budget reductions, while conceding that none of the potential fixes are painless.
Numbers Behind the Gap
Budget documents and local reporting point to some messy math. The mayor’s draft FY27 school allocation clocks in at about $114 million, while the state’s Net School Spending requirement for Methuen is close to $124.7 million. According to Inside Methuen, once non-net items such as busing are stripped out, the actual instructional spending falls much lower, which helps explain why officials still talk about millions that remain unfunded. The outlet also notes that chargebacks and accounting rules can shift whether particular line items count toward the state minimum, so the size of the gap can appear to change depending on how the ledger is sliced.
Mayor Pushes One-Time Fixes
Mayor David Beauregard has urged caution about treating one-time reserves as a long-term solution. The city’s budget transmittal warns that a limited infusion of free cash might steady the schools for now but cannot be repeated year after year. In the FY26 proposed budget from the City of Methuen, the mayor recommends a one-time transfer and several other short-term maneuvers, paired with longer-range structural changes aimed at boosting local revenue.
School Committee: Tough Choices Ahead
During an April 22 School Committee workshop, members walked through a list of potential moves that included reworking class sizes, charging families for transportation, and exploring a virtual academy model. Even with all of that on the table, they acknowledged that those measures would not close the full budget gap. The committee backed a class-size framework that seeks to keep grades 2 through 8 below 26 students, but, according to local reporting, the numbers still leave a multi-million-dollar hole.
Teachers Sound the Alarm
The Methuen Education Association says previous reductions have already eliminated dozens of educator positions and warns that further cuts would strip away core services for students. In a union statement, the Methuen Education Association wrote that “120 positions cut in two years is an entire grammar school wiped out” and urged city leaders to safeguard classroom staffing while the budget fight plays out.
Where This Fits In Statewide
Methuen’s budget crunch echoes the strain showing up across Massachusetts as pandemic-era federal aid runs out and costs for health care, transportation, and special education continue to climb. The Boston Globe has detailed multi-million-dollar gaps and proposed teaching cuts in several districts, underscoring that Methuen’s problems are part of a wider fiscal squeeze rather than a one-off anomaly.
What’s Next
With City Council and School Committee votes expected in the coming weeks, Methuen is weighing one-time cash transfers, contract negotiations, sales of surplus property, and the politically fraught possibility of a local override. Mayor Beauregard and school leaders say they will push state lawmakers for additional help even as they make tough choices at home, and residents can expect more budget hearings and public debate before any final plan is locked in.
