Braintree Schools Budget Takes Center Stage At Public Hearing

BRAINTREE, MA — It's been an eventful few weeks for Braintree officials as the fiscal year 2025 school budget moves toward a vote.

Among the concern is a budget that falls millions of dollars short, which could mean cuts in the local district and at local schools.

A Monday School Committee meeting will feature a public hearing on the budget vote, and members of Braintree Educators will be present and wearing pink, a message they said is in support of "over 100 educator positions" that could be designated for elimination.

At that meeting, Superintendent James Lee presented a view of what the district would look like under the new budget.

The district would need $8 million in cuts to keep the budget at $75.7 million, but Lee said the current budget need to maintain the employment and program levels within the district is $83.5 million.

That chasm, Lee said, would mean 77 teaching jobs cut throughout the district. With 412 teaching jobs currently in Braintree, that would mean less than 350 teachers across the district for 2024-2025.

Students and parents could expect bigger class sizes but fewer course offerings.

These cuts have by no means been met with calm, but another revelation from Lee sparked the fiercest concern.

Lee said at the meeting that Highlands Elementary School would need to close with redistricting for the remaining schools. Some students would be moved to Liberty and Hollis while others would be moved into the early childhood center slated to open at the old South Middle School campus.

However, Mayor Erin Joyce disputed that the Highlands closure was a piece of the budget discussion at all, but it's unclear what the long-term future of the school is even after she pushed back against what she called Lee's "poorly conceived and timed opinion."

Her full statement is below:

"I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of emails, phone calls and public comment at school committee and PTOs meetings in the last couple of weeks. The poorly conceived and timed opinion presented by Superintendent Lee on Monday - that we should close Highlands without the full vetting of where students would go and the full cost savings shared is not something residents deserve. The minimal savings offered, coupled with cost implications of recent MSBA-partnered improvements, will not plug the gap meaningfully. I have directed the Superintendent to find alternative savings that would preserve Highlands AND programming. I am working on budgetary options that maintain neighborhood elementary schools, including Highlands, for a minimum of one year until we can determine strategic options for the consolidation of neighborhood schools."

The Monday meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Braintree Town Hall. A livestream of the meeting is available here.