Dover-Sherborn Cuts Budget Growth to 3.72 Percent, Defers Curriculum Coordinator Hires

School Committee · Meeting of February 3, 2026

SHERBORN — Dover-Sherborn Regional School Committee moves closer to $500,000 in combined savings as budget growth falls to 3.72 percent. Meeting February 3 at the middle school library, the committee heard district leaders present "version 2.0" of the fiscal year 2027 budget, which sets the regional operating budget at $30,170,188 and reduces Dover's assessment by $269,725 and Sherborn's by $232,951 compared to the first draft, with an added $218,600 cut in the Sherborn local school budget bringing total Sherborn savings to roughly $451,551 against a requested $500,000 reduction tied to the town's effort to avoid a Proposition 2.5 override. The district will defer two proposed K-12 curriculum coordinator positions estimated at $140,000 each, reduce middle school counselors from three to two, leave a retiring high school history teacher and one retiring guidance counselor position unfilled, and shift elementary Spanish instruction from three or four periods per week to one, generating savings of $178,000 at Chickering and $39,600 at Pine Hill.

The high school roof restoration project goes to bid the week of February 10, with officials hoping for a bid under $2 million, and a version 3.0 budget is set for the committee's March 3 public hearing and vote.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of February 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.