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MERSD School Budget: Spring 2025 (FY26 Budget)

By: Lindsay Torres Banks (ldtorres2@gmail.com)

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At their 3/18/25 meeting, the School Committee passed a budget that was proposed as a compromise between a level services budget and a budget that eliminated the Middle School Principal and Facilities Manager positions. This budget: 

  • Retains a Middle School principal funded with district reserves.  Will go through full search for interim principal to replace the retiring principal and the model will be studied next year to determine future plans for the middle school principal position.

  • Moves forward restructuring facilities department to eliminate an admin position

  • Reallocates one FTE (full time employee) from high school to Memorial to address large class sizes and 6th grade foreign language

  • Uses $600K in reserves and $150K from OPEB. Use of these funds creates holes that need to be plugged next year just to achieve level funding. 

  • Keeps assessment to the towns the same because it dips into reserves to retain middle school principal position.

  • Delays decisions about accepting more School Choice students (and adding more revenue) until the district has a better idea of what the budget will be.

The Town of Manchester has expressed it won’t need an override to fund this budget.  It will still be important to go to Town Meeting on April 28 at 6:30pm at Memorial School and vote to approve it.  

The Town of Essex will put the MERSD budget in a Prop 2.5 override at the amount of $689,196 that will be put to voters at Essex Town Meeting on May 5 AND the ballot on May 12. (It is worth noting that the 2023 failed override was for $287,000 ) In passing this override, voters are enabling Town of Essex department budgets to grow at a rate of 6%.

The Superintendent has yet to present the budget that is being developed if this override fails.  She has indicated that 20 or so teachers will need to be given notice that their jobs are contingent upon the outcome of the budget outcome.  The district is required by law to give teachers fair notice that their positions are contingent upon the budget outcome. This gives teachers adequate time to look for another job. This notice will go out before the override vote. School Committee member Erica Spencer said at their last meeting, “There is no grade level that will not be impacted by these cuts. Make no mistake, this district would be fundamentally different.” Class sizes, schedule flexibility, course offerings, administrator time, and special education program staffing could all be affected. 

School budgets have an impact on our towns’ ability to spend money in other areas and impact residents’ tax bills directly. Town residents need to make hard decisions about what to prioritize. As Sarah Stone put it in her Letter to Editor in The Cricket, “It is our collective responsibility to support the equitable education of our children and provide them with opportunities that will strengthen our society....I can’t think of a better way to invest my tax dollars.”

If we want to prevent cuts to our schools, it is vital we get educated and advocate for our kids and the teachers and programs that make MERSD such a wonderful place. 

What do I do?

  • Join our email list for budget updates.

  • If you’re a Manchester resident, mark your calendar and plan to attend Town Meeting on April 28.  Register for FREE child care here.  We are working on putting together a list of babysitters so stay tuned.

  • If you’re an Essex resident, mark your calendar and plan to attend both Town Meeting on May 5 and the ballot vote on May 12. We are working on putting together a list of babysitters so stay tuned.

  • Volunteer or make yourself available to babysit so that caregivers with children with early bedtimes can attend Town Meeting!  Add your contact info to this form.  Since our Town Meetings are on different dates, Manchester parents can volunteer to babysit for Essex families and vice versa. If you’re not a resident of either town, this is a great way to help get out the vote and support MERSD!

  • Spread the word and bring your friends! Talk to your friends about what’s going on with the school budget. 

  • Attend Town of Essex Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen meetings. Write emails (contacts below) or make public comments expressing your thoughts or asking questions.

  • Follow Support MERSD on Facebook. Comment, like, and share on your own social media pages.

  • Connect with the district to learn more. Watch meeting recordings, access MERSD School Committee or MERSD Finance & Operations documents, and talk to teachers and administrators about how their ability to do their jobs might be affected. Attend the upcoming Superintendent's Coffee March 27 from 8:45-9:45am in the Central Office (driveway entrance to right of football field, office door under the cafeteria). You can share your thoughts and ask questions.

  • Share your own experiences with MERSD and why the schools deserve taxpayer support. Share verbally, on social media, or write your own letter to the editor of The Cricket and the Gloucester Daily Times (see some examples below.)

To educate yourself, read below to learn more:  This includes:

Some Powerful letters to share:


Want to stay in the loop on how you can Support MERSD? Fill out the Google Form at this link!

Overview of the Budget Process

Funding Public Schools and Prop 2.5

  • Proposition 2.5 is a Massachusetts law that limits how much a town can increase its property tax revenue each year to 2.5%, plus additional revenue from new growth (i.e. construction).  Because of this 1980 law, towns try to ensure budgets for various departments are capped at 2.5%. A community can exceed this levy limit with voter approval through overrides, which allow for permanent tax increases to support local services and schools. 

  • Massachusetts towns with high-performing high schools typically pass overrides to Proposition 2.5 every 3-7 years for the school district operational budget. For example, voters in neighboring towns have supported between 2-7 overrides each in the past 20 years or so, including Hamilton, Ipswich, Wenham, and Rockport. 

MERSD and Prop 2.5: We are overdue for an override

  • The cost of level services grows by 3.5-4%, greater than the 2.5% allowed by state law Proposition 2.5.  Faced with natural growth in excess of 2.5%, school districts decide between the following options: 1. cuts; 2. funding the gap through use of School  District reserves (savings); or 3. Sending a higher budget to the towns that may need a correction. A correction means that the towns find additional funding sources or they request an override, which requires a vote at town meetings and the polls. Without an occasional override, the district’s growing budgetary needs are suppressed because of constraints in the towns. For many years, MERSD has closed the gap using a combination of reductions, reallocations, and District reserves. Each time District reserves are used to fund the operating budget the gap expands. Each time the District reduces positions or programs the effects can carry over into the following years unless they are added back. 

  • Every 7-10 years, MERSD faces a crossroads to significantly reduce program or need the towns to pass an override. The Towns are overdue for an override to fund MERSD (the last Essex override for MERSD was 2005 and last MBTS override was 2016). We met that crossroads in January, 2021 and it continues today.  You can find a history of the last few years of budget cycles here.

What happens if the override fails?

  • If either town fails to approve a needed override, the proposed budget fails. A second attempt, either with the same proposed budget or a different budget, must be made (another Town Meeting and, if an override is needed, a second trip to the ballot box.) If either town fails to approve a second time, a third attempt is needed but this time through a joint "super Town Meeting" where residents of both towns attend and a majority vote of those present can approve a budget.  Each town must then pay their share regardless of whether an override is approved or not on a third try. If a needed override is not approved the funds must come through cuts to non-school accounts - town operating and capital budgets.  If the third attempt fails the school district is forced to operate from the same budget as the current year until a new budget is approved.

It’s important to note that:

  • The school building vote for a new/renovated Essex Elementary School is coming up in the spring of 2027.

  • MERSD receives $545,000 in federal funds.

  • The towns are concerned about the following budgetary issues/constraints:  according to their joint FinComm meeting on 1/21/25, 

    • Manchester:  

      • Double digit increases in costs of of health insurance, 

      • Increasing costs of utility chemicals - water and sewer,  

      • Significant upcoming capital and facility projects:  ($250M over 20 years)  including:

        • Water and sewer upgrades ($7.5M)

        • PFA treatment for water- new building(s) and harbor dredging ($23M)

        • New DPW building ($22M)

        • Police and fire department (flooding) 

        • New/ renovated library

        • Senior center

      • Climate resiliency  - $45M in projects

        • Sewer plant susceptible to flooding

      • Public safety building and town hall rehab ($30M)

    • Essex: 

      • 2 union contracts in negotiations

      • $2.2M for water infrastructure

      • Potential wage and salary schedule for full-time fire department

      • Possible replacement tanker truck (that services other local communities) and engine 1 for fire department

      • Gloucester sewer upgrade ($6M bill to Essex paid out $300K over 20 years)

Want to stay in the loop on how you can Support MERSD? Fill out the Google Form at this link!

Access information about past school budget cycles here.

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Looking for a way to SUPPORT MERSD beyond the operating budget?

Donate to the Spaulding Education Fund.

Spaulding Education Fund is an independent, non-profit organization providing support for programs that enhance the academic curriculum of the Manchester Essex Regional School District.