Dover School Committee Unanimously Approves $9.3 Million Fiscal Year 2027 Budget

School Committee · Meeting of March 5, 2026

SHERBORN -- Dover School Committee unanimously approves $9.3 million fiscal year 2027 budget with a 2.63 percent in-district increase. The three-member board, Chair Goli Saperra, Kate Cook, and Jessie Hull attending remotely, voted 3-0 Thursday at Dover-Sherborn Middle School Library, with CFO Dawn Fedori explaining that a headline $2 million decrease in total appropriations reflects a state-directed accounting realignment of out-of-district special education costs to the regional budget, not a cut to services. Per-pupil in-district cost is budgeted at $20,300 against a projected enrollment of 450 students in 24 sections.

A $178,000 payroll reduction tied to the elimination of most elementary Spanish instruction drew sustained pushback from parents during the public hearing; Superintendent Beth McCoy said the decision was driven by instructional time, not money, and confirmed the school is in preliminary talks with an outside vendor to offer voluntary after-school world language programs including Mandarin and German beginning in fall 2026. The circuit breaker reimbursement is expected to cover a nearly $800,000 tuition overrun on mid-year out-of-district placements.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of March 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.