Framingham School Committee approves $187.4 million FY27 budget and superintendent evaluation

FRAMINGHAM — June 17, 2026 — Framingham School Committee ratifies $187.4 million school budget and restructures gifted program under budget cuts. The committee voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize year-end budget transfers, with Executive Director of Finance and Operations Lincoln Lynch projecting a $591,000 FY26 carryover — slightly above the $500,000 cushion the committee built into the FY27 plan — after the City Council approved the school department's operating budget 6-5 the prior evening. Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Dr. Mary Beth O'Brien detailed sweeping changes to the SAGE gifted-and-talented program following the loss of four teachers: the elementary staff drops from five teachers to three, and middle school from three to one, with a new equity-focused universal screening model starting in second grade replacing a single standardized screener that identified roughly 2 percent of students at one school, compared to 22 percent under a revised multi-tool approach. Member Adam Freudberg identified $74,000 toward the $136,725 cost of restoring two elementary SAGE positions but made no motion. The committee also approved Superintendent Dr. Bob Tremblay's annual summative evaluation at proficient, cleared a revised Athletics Handbook 8-0, and voted 9-0 to accept a first reading of updated restraint policy JKAA, which carries an August 16 DESE submission deadline.