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On December 19 the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee was informed by Superintendent Brad Crozier that Town Manager Andy Sheehan was able to provide $120,000 in additional funding for FY26. The additional funding meant SPS could add an assistant principal position that was the top-ranked need that they previously could not fit into their operating budget. Crozier told the committee:
“This afternoon or this evening he and I talked and he said that he would support the two warrant articles for the technology and for the ELA curriculum piece. And he also said that they were able to pull together some additional funding to change the guidance by $120,000 to help us with our tier 1 initiatives.”
Member Karyn Jones, who had previously advocated for the addition of an assistant principal position, asked if that meant that the assistant principal position would move into the operating budget. Crozier confirmed that it would, and the motion to approve the recommended budget was amended accordingly. Several members expressed their gratitude to the Town Manager and the Superintendent for finding a way to get the revised guidance.
Member Mary Stephens asked a few more questions about the professional development budget line item and questioned if there was a way to adjust it to free up budget to address the large class sizes in the district. The other four members were not interested in entertaining the idea, and eventually the committee voted unanimously to approve the superintendent’s recommended budget as amended with the revised guidance.
Next, Superintendent Crozier offered what appeared to be another unexpected announcement. He recommended continuing with the existing Combined Facilities Department Memorandum of Agreement for another year, with negotiations to continue with the Town in the months ahead:
“We’ve had some good progress on addressing some of the concerns in the MOA. We have scheduled another meeting after the new year. We felt like we were making some good progress. I do continue to have some concerns about the 50/50 split given the difference in square footage at the school level compared to the town level. But at this point I would recommend continuing with the MOA for another year to give some of the changes that we’re contemplating a chance to take hold. And see if we can work that out.”
Members asked a variety of questions about the recommendation, which appeared to be a 180-degree reversal from prior statements made by the Superintendent about the current arrangement for facilities management. That included prior claims that SPS needed a dedicated facility director to handle the facilities workload ahead of it, and other statements about the annual electrical service needs of the district.
The meeting wrapped in under an hour, and was the last meeting of the school committee for this calendar year.
