The School Committee's Finance Subcommittee meets Tuesday, Sept. 15, to review how Lexington's $146 million school budget finished fiscal year 2026.

The 45-minute session starts at 5 p.m. at the Central Office, 173 Bedford St. The subcommittee's agenda lists a preliminary FY26 end-of-year report, draft FY28 budget guidelines and a draft budget calendar. A Period Two year-to-date report is also on the docket, though the agenda does not specify what reporting interval that covers.

The FY28 guidelines will be shaped by a difficult FY27. Town Manager Steve Bartha's April 24 memo on the fiscal 2027 school budget cited a structural deficit of roughly $7 million. Lexington Public Schools cut approximately 65 full-time positions and issued non-renewal letters to about 160 early-career staff members to help close the gap, according to the Lexington Observer and the Boston Globe.

Even after those cuts, a shortfall remained. The Globe reported the proposed FY27 budget still faced a $4.7 million gap heading into Town Meeting.

Budget tensions carried into Town Meeting in April. A proposed amendment sought $1.25 million in Free Cash for the LPS operating budget. The Select Board, Appropriation Committee and town finance staff opposed the full amount.

A compromise approved April 27 added $625,000 in Free Cash instead: $250,000 for a one-year literacy curriculum plan and $375,000 for five one-year specialist positions. The School Committee backed the deal 5-0. The Select Board voted 4-1 and the Appropriation Committee 5-3.

Select Board Chair Jill Hai signaled at the April 27 Financial Summit that the compromise would not set a precedent. "Nobody on this side is happy about this," Hai said of the Select Board during the meeting. "We do not anticipate having this conversation next year, and if we do, it will go very differently," she said, according to the Lexington Observer.

A June 10 Financial Summit convened the Select Board, Appropriation Committee, Capital Expenditures Committee and School Committee to discuss long-term budget challenges, according to the summit's agenda. That session preceded the formal opening of the FY28 cycle.

No advance materials for the FY26 year-end report or the draft FY28 guidelines have been published.