Marlborough School Committee adopts $72M FY24 budget, hires Wayland finance director

MARLBOROUGH — March 28, 2023 — Marlborough School Committee adopts $72M FY24 budget and hikes long-term substitute pay to $275 a day. The committee unanimously approved Superintendent Mary Murphy's $71,996,080 FY24 spending plan, a 3.62 percent increase, sending it to the mayor and City Council on April 3. Members also appointed Thomas LaFleur, currently Wayland's finance and operations director and a licensed CPA, as Marlborough's new finance director, calling the move "a new home" for LaFleur. To stem a long-term substitute shortage — Algonquin pays $285 and Nashoba $298 against Marlborough's $180 — member Jaime Hennessy pushed the long-term rate for 91-to-179-day assignments to $275, well above the staff-recommended $20 bump. Director of Pupil Personnel Services Catherine O'Brien reported homeless enrollment has climbed from 47 in November to 81, with 15 students housed at the Extended Stay America under a state program.