It’s no secret that the Sutton Public Schools budget has been a topic of immense worry and debate for the town over the past few years.
This year is no different.
On Monday, February 9, 2026, the School Committee met to discuss the many proposed budget cut options.
Scenario 1 includes cutting a kindergarten teacher, a 1st grade teacher, a special education administration assistant, instructional technology, classroom supplies, high school field trips (such as DECA, Environmental Club and Humanities field trips), and transportation to graduation.
This would reduce the budget by $136,561.
I think we can all agree that is a lot of money.
However, even with all those eliminations, we would have a gap of $286,441.
That brings us to Scenario 2, of which there is an A, B, and C.
Scenario 2 is very similar to Scenario 1, except it cuts a 2nd grade teacher as option 2A or a music teacher as option 2B, instead of a kindergarten teacher, and cuts superintendent expenses, business office expenses, Middle School/High School library expenses, and weight room repairs as well. Scenario 2 also adds a School Committee recording secretary and Unified Sports.
Cutting a music teacher would mean the reduction of the music program in some capacity, most likely within the current lessons offered to middle school students.
However, it could also mean the reduction of the chorus and band programs in the elementary, middle, and high school.
These reductions cut $203,329, but still leaves us with a gap of $219,673.
And if you’re like me you’re probably wondering, what are Unified Sports?
Unified Sports brings together athletes with intellectual disabilities and without intellectual disabilities together on the same team. Athletes without disabilities would help assist the athletes with the disabilities in learning how to play the game, and helping them understand what to do.
The season would take place in the fall, and cost $10,000.
The question for me is if we have enough people to support it. Sutton is already a small town, and that often means drawing from the middle school to create high school teams. With scraping together high school teams from the middle and high school already, and would we have enough athletes to create a Unified Sports team and have successful high school teams, especially in the fall being the time for some of our most popular sports, like soccer, is there enough of a population of student athletes to support this idea?
Scenario 2C is very similar to Scenarios 2A and 2B in that it cuts and adds the same things, except option 2C cuts a full time librarian instead of a 2nd grade or music teacher.
Instead of a librarian, we would have a librarian’s assistant.
Now, what exactly is the difference?
Well, a licensed librarian ensures that we have access to materials like SORA. SORA is an online tool that allows students to check out e-books and audiobooks online for free.
A licensed librarian also has a knowledge of their catalog that no one else does. They know every book in the collection, and if a parent does not like a book and demands it be removed, the librarian is the one who looks at the age ratings and defends the book if they think it is appropriate.
Our librarian, Mrs. Farmer, also promotes reading through teacher collaborations and activities such as Blind Date With a Book.
You may remember in middle school going to the library during English class to check out books, or taking an English class in the high school where you were asked to visit the library for a book report. These are all things that Mrs. Farmer helps run in order to encourage engagement throughout the school system.
With a librarian assistant, we would lose these fun activities and collaborations. That outside encouragement would be almost nonexistent, and students will stop reading as much.
Scenarios 3A and 3B are very similar to the previous options, except Scenario 3A proposes cutting a 2nd grade teacher AND the librarian, whereas Scenario 3B proposes cutting a music teacher AND the librarian.
These cuts would still leave us with a gap of $197,930.
Scenario 3C proposes cutting a 2nd grade teacher AND a music teacher, but not our librarian.
These cuts would leave us with a gap of $146,830.
Scenario 4 would cut all three positions, the 2nd grade teacher, the music teacher, AND the librarian, and still leave a gap of $125,087.
Our final proposed option, Scenario 5, would cut all the same things as Scenario 4, plus a middle school or high school teacher.
Even with all of these cuts, we would still have a gap of $52,244.
Overall, these cuts will leave a gap, whether that be in our students’ education, or in the budget
Stay tuned as I continue to go through the proposed budget to see what is in, what is out, and what things need explanations.
Matthew Gemme • Feb 25, 2026 at 8:01 pm
Thank you for covering this subject in such great detail and bringing people up to date. Great job on this article.
Concerned Town Mom • Feb 25, 2026 at 12:52 pm
It is disheartening that these teachers have to fight and defend their jobs so that their neck isn’t on the line. These programs and positions are all valuable to SPS. What SPS is not addressing is the wants and needs of the families that live here and that put their confidence in the school system. The Sutton residence pay thousands of tax dollars which should be going to the schools. Enrollment is a huge issue that is creating these deficits. I have yet to see any events which promote SPS’s to town families that showcase what they have to offer to our children. These continued cuts are part of the enrollment problem. While I am all for unified sports, cutting people’s livelihood should not be the reason we are able to gain that programming. Not to mention, parents are paying $300 per child per sport. We are paying for sports programming, yet ,we continue to need additional funding for sports or they will be cut. There are many things that can be done to fix this, SPS needs to come together and work to keep the town families in the school system.