Whitman-Hanson Schools Propose $66.8 Million Budget After Eliminating 2 Million in Spending

WHITMAN -- March 10, 2026, Whitman-Hanson Regional School District proposes a $66.8 million FY27 budget built on $2 million in cuts completed in six weeks. Interim Superintendent John Marcus and Interim Director of Business Matt Wells told the Whitman Finance Committee on March 10 that the district faced $4.7 million in new cost pressures, including $1.5 million in contractual salary increases and $1.3 million in added health insurance costs, and eliminated positions including one assistant superintendent, a social studies coordinator, a high school dean, an educational technology specialist, and a secondary data analyst to reach a balanced figure. The proposed assessment to each town reflects an increase of approximately 4.7 percent, slightly below the 5 percent ceiling initially modeled, after the district adjusted its state transportation reimbursement estimate upward from 75 to 80 percent. Marcus warned that the district's over-reliance on circuit breaker special education funds, planning to spend $2.2 million of an estimated $2.6 million reimbursement, remains a structural risk the district cannot yet fully correct. Finance Committee Chair Michael Warner called for a fall tri-board process with both select boards so the school budget no longer arrives as the last major input in the town's planning cycle.