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.