Needham Releases Plan To Tighten Budget for FY26 

This year, at Needham’s January 7th school committee meeting, the district announced that it would need to trim $2.5 million from its budget for the upcoming fiscal year due to increased healthcare prices—a change which has forced superintendent Dan Gutekanst and the school committee to make some hard decisions. Cutting down from the original $104 million proposal for FY26, the superintendent stated that the district had already accounted for $1.4 million in reductions, but still needs to find a way to shave off another $1.1 million.

One of the first reductions needed, the district admitted, involved cutting Needham Public Schools staff by 15 members through both layoffs and retirements. Along with these staff members also went the NHS Latin program, with low enrollment stated as justification for its removal. Most recently, however, the district has announced a multi-step plan to cut costs, with some changes already taking place.

In February, multiple NHS students noticed that a crucial part of the NHS cafeteria was suddenly gone: the sriracha sauce. These students reached out to school administrators and members of the nutrition department, and they were informed that the sriracha would temporarily return, but that it would likely be removed in the future as part of an unreleased budget cutting effort. When the plan was released, the nightmare turned out to be true: the district was spending just under $32 each week on four 28 oz bottles of sriracha and refused to continue doing so, stating that it was one of the “hard decisions” which had been anticipated. The district is expected to save $1200 in FY26 on the sauce and will remove it from the cafeteria before the end of FY25. A scroll down the 23-page PDF, however, reveals that condiments in the lunchroom aren’t the only thing students will be missing.

After sriracha sauce is slowly phased out heading into the end of this school year and the coming fall, the district plans to justify its next cut by the positive environmental impact it may have: removing paper towels. With paper towels costing around $60.99 for a box of six 800-foot long rolls, the school expects to save anywhere from $150 to $300 each week. Replacing the towels with air dryers has been “considered for the future” but is currently “beyond the district’s expectations” for FY26. Instead, students will be expected to shake their hands in often vain attempts to dry them.

Continuing with the environmentally-friendly theme, Needham plans to make the following changes concurrently with removing the paper towels in order to use less electricity and natural gas:

1. Turn off all classroom lights during X-Block (30 minutes), saving a whopping $1.54 each day. Students who plan to do work on paper during X-Block are expected to bring flashlights, candles, or night vision goggles if they are able.

2. Decrease use of HVAC systems 25-50% from September-November and March-May. Historically, Needham has spent up to 150% as much as other months in September on energy costs. Students will be expected to bring hand warmers and multiple jackets during the late fall and coolers filled with ice during the late spring.

3. Student-powered devices: the school will be introducing projectors powered by hand cranks, which students will alternate using during class. Stationary bicycle-powered computers are expected to be introduced if necessary.

4. Sundials: electric bells will be replaced with large sundials on the Admiral Gracey Dr. and Webster St. sides of the school which teachers can check to see if class is over.

Needham also plans to continue to cut costs in the lunchroom by canceling its recent reusable lunch tray program. Students are encouraged to bring their own lunch trays or eat their food in the lunch line. In the library, expenses are also expected to come down with books costing $1/day to check out for all students. The school will also no longer provide textbooks for any of its classes, with students expected to bid on those still in circulation in the case that any past students neglected to return theirs.

As part of the NHS wellness program, a fourth rotation is expected to be added during FY26. Students will still play games, learn in the classroom, and use the fitness center, but will spend one rotation cleaning the hallways and fixing minor maintenance issues as janitorial and maintenance staff will be reduced significantly. The school, however, hopes to minimize the chances of these issues even occurring. It will be introducing hallway speed limits to reduce wear-and-tear on the floors and will limit the number of times a door can be opened or closed in a day to prevent damage to the hinges..

Busing expenses are also expected to come down by about 30% during FY26, with students living within one mile of Highland Ave. encouraged to use the twice hourly MBTA 59 bus which runs down the street. The school expects the savings from this cut to outweigh the losses from no longer charging students to use the removed school bus routes.

NHS extracurricular activities will not be spared by the expansive budget-cutting measures. Theatre productions are now expected to be “one to five person performances” that are “entirely student directed” and ticket costs will increase by 150%. Plays will also happen during the day because no electricity will be provided to supply the lights in the auditorium. Field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse will also start using the same nets, with two-thirds of the nets from each sport that the district currently owns expected to be sold.

NHS will also remove a number of the subscriptions it provides students with. Those set to disappear include The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and all Gale-related apps. The school’s Wi-Fi service will also come to an end this December; it will first be reduced to 3 hours each day in October. Students will be expected to connect to personal hotspots or print out all necessary documents to make up for the lack of school-sponsored internet access. Printers, however, will not be found in the library and printing must happen at students’ homes.

The district’s report also includes 200+ smaller ways to trim the budget. Some examples are as follows: 

1. Remove bids issued for window cleaning, and 14 other repair/cleaning services. Any current bid proposals by contractors for these services will be rejected and students will play a part in making up for this loss. Issues such as leaks are expected to take 4-8 months to repair.

2. Remove buffalo chicken wraps and three different kinds of salads from the NHS cafeteria’s everyday items menu.

3. Delay purchase of any new materials for the Fine Arts program until FY29.

4. Decline replacements of any broken or worn down chromebooks.

5. Remove electrical outlets from 80% of classrooms.

The plan also notes that school clubs will no longer receive funding or support from the district. Although most clubs have their own fundraisers, the district reports that some clubs may find it difficult to continue including—wait…does that say The Hilltopper!?

Find the entire plan on trimming the budget for FY26 here.