Shrewsbury School Committee Approves $94.4 Million Budget for Town Meeting

SHREWSBURY — April 29, 2026 — Shrewsbury School Committee approves $94.4 million FY27 school budget and rates departing superintendent exemplary. The committee voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend a fiscal year 2027 school department budget of $94,405,286 — a 4.50 percent year-over-year increase — for town meeting approval, revising slightly downward from the 4.53 percent figure it endorsed on April 15. Business administrator Chris Girardi reported that out-of-district special education tuition is now projected at $8,313,567, a $515,000 jump from the February baseline, with the district planning to draw $5.6 million from its circuit breaker reserve fund, leaving an estimated $2.3 million reserve balance at year's end. The committee also accepted a $35,000 donation from WinWaste Innovations to fund, among other initiatives, a first-ever $26,962 medical interpreting certification program for bilingual high school seniors launching in fall 2026. In Superintendent Joseph Sawyer's final annual evaluation — covering his 17th year leading the district — the committee awarded an overall rating of exemplary while acknowledging a 625 percent spike in public records requests from a single household that strained district response capacity. The evening's longest segment honored retiring member Sandra Fritz, who served six three-year terms, with the committee voting unanimously to dedicate an outdoor space at Major Howard W. Beale School as the Sandra Fritz Garden.