Burlington May Town Meeting 2026: School Budgets Approved, Shawsheen Rejected on Night One
Burlington's Town Meeting approved a $197M budget on night one, but Shawsheen Tech's budget was effectively rejected and must be resubmitted.
One hundred four of Burlington's 126 legislative representatives convened on Monday, May 11, for the first night of the town's Annual Town Meeting. The body approved millions in spending, agreeing to fund public safety, schools, salaries and benefits for town employees, and more, before adjourning around 11:00 PM.
Burlington's Town Meeting convenes three times per year, and the May meeting is where the operating budget is set for the coming fiscal year. This year's budget came in at $197,604,794, an increase of 5.62% over last year's.
A good portion of the evening's debates centered around the Burlington Public Schools and Shawsheen Tech budgets, both of which were held for debate while the majority of other departmental budgets passed outright or with brief discussion.
Burlington Public Schools budget survives postponement attempt
The Local Education and Special Education budgets, representing a combined total of $87 million – 44% of the town's total budget – were discussed at length. Several concerns were noted, starting with access and transparency. Town Meeting Member Millie Nash said the school department's budget wasn't attached to the rest of the Town Meeting documentation as advertised, and she didn't receive a copy until the night of Town Meeting; others requested a presentation from the School Department much like the one the Town Administrator shares covering the rest of the departmental budgets.
Other Town Meeting Members argued that there was plenty of access to the budget online ahead of the meeting and that Members should raise unanswered questions during the meeting so they can be addressed in real time rather than postponing. "We don't start over again in Town Meeting," said Member Cathy Beyer, pointing out that the school department came in at 4.25%, the low end of the 4.25-4.5% guideline established by Town Administration. "This is the end of the process." She encouraged Members to join committees and become more involved in the budget creation process.
A motion to postpone voting on the budget until Wednesday, following a presentation from the School Department, failed, and the Local Education budget totaling $70,474,253 passed.
The Special Education Accommodated budget passed as well, in the amount of $16,835,321. This includes special education services, including tuition and transportation for students placed out of district. When questioned about transportation costs, Superintendent Eric Conti acknowledged the service is expensive. Ways & Means Committee Member Chris Campbell, who is also the chair of the Subcommittee to the School Committee, explained the state has little competition in the area of special education transportation.
Shawsheen Tech will need to present a new budget within 30 days
The budget for Shawsheen Valley Regional Technical School has now been rejected by two of its five sending communities, an act which will require the school's administration to present a new budget within 30 days.
Burlington passed a budget with a $1,000 decrease from the district's proposal. The approval of any amount lower than proposed is considered a rejection, and 2/3 of sending communities (four out of five) must pass the budget in order for it to move forward. While Bedford passed its portion of the assessment, Tewksbury approved a significantly reduced budget. Billerica and Wilmington Town Meetings have yet to vote.
Ways & Means Committee Chair Doug Davison and Vice-Chair Ed Parsons spent 30 minutes explaining the work the Committee has done along with the Shawsheen administration to understand the budget situation and answering questions from Town Meeting Members. They explained that the Ways & Means Committee is confident the budget amount is appropriate to operate the school. However, they are less confident that the School Committee – which is made up of two members from each of the five sending communities – is sufficiently motivated to address the financial management issues that appear clear to Burlington's finance committee.
"There's not money being thrown away," said Parsons. "The problem is in the accounting" and the segregation of revolving accounts. "Those requirements have come online progressively, and ... some of those accounts weren't set up correctly."
"The state will require us to fund the school," said Parsons, which is why the committee recommended approving the substantial portion of the budget. But the committee is requesting that a business manager be hired and acceptable accounting practices be put in place in the interim. After the new budget is presented, which must happen within 30 days, Town Meeting can convene to vote on the revised budget. If the body doesn't convene and vote on the budget within 45 days, the budget will be deemed approved.
Remaining budgets will be heard May 13
A considerable number of the town's budget items were passed, but there are several more held budgets – including public works, council on aging, youth & family services, library, recreation, and more – still to debate. Those, along with the capital requests, will be considered when Town Meeting reconvenes on May 13 (and possibly May 18). Also to be considered: a proposed ban of crypto ATMs in town and an update to the town's wireless communications zoning overlay.
Town Meeting will be back in session May 13, 2026, at the BHS Fogelberg Auditorium at 7:00 and broadcast on BCAT. Stay tuned to Burlington Buzz for updates.
