(Feb. 11th) – The Ayer-Shirley Regional School District has now made preliminary budget presentations to both the Ayer and Shirley Select Boards.
On Feb. 3rd, the school district met with the Ayer Select Board, Finance Committee and Town Manager, presenting a preliminary budget reflecting an 11.9 percent increase in Ayer’s operating assessment & debt and 14.7 percent in Shirley’s operating assessment & debt line.
The school district presented what they called a level-services budget. The Ayer Select Board asked for reductions.
On Feb. 9th, the district presented a reduced preliminary budget at the Shirley Select Board meeting. This reflected a 7.8 percent increase in Ayer’s operating assessment & debt and a 9.8 percent increase in Shirley’s operating assessment & debt.
Following these presentations, on Wednesday, Feb. 11th, the Ayer-Shirley Regional School Committee held a brief public hearing on the proposed FY2027 budget.
This was our first time following a regional school district budget process and we struggled a bit. We will end our coverage here today, but remain interested in covering both Ayer and Shirley along with the School Committee and schools. We thank those who offered to answer questions this week. We will try to do more with future articles.