Marlborough School Committee posts $76.25M FY25 budget for April 9 hearing

MARLBOROUGH -- March 26, 2024, Marlborough School Committee posts a $76.25 million FY25 school budget for April 9 public hearing. Superintendent Mary Murphy said the city asked the district to accelerate from an original April 30 date so she can present the budget to City Council on May 6. The hearing-date vote was unanimous; the vote to post the specific $76,252,690 figure passed 5-1 with one abstention. Member Katherine Hennessy voted no, saying she would prefer $76,616,990 because "we are in a situation where we need to act now" on diversity supports she said were trimmed. Murphy separately reported district chronic absenteeism has fallen from nearly 32 percent to 24 percent year over year, with Marlborough High dropping from just over 40 percent to 32 percent. The committee also approved its three-year Student Opportunity Act plan and accepted $204,739 in donations, including a $129,739 homeless-transportation foster-care reimbursement.