Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, MAy 1, 2026 Countdown Till Saugus Town Meeting Editor’s Note: The 2026 Annual Town Meeting convenes on Monday, May 4. As a special service to our readers and the registered voters of Saugus, we reached out to all 50 Town Meeting members, focusing on one precinct each week over the past 10 weeks leading up to the start of Town Meeting. We have TOWN MEETING | FROM PAGE 1 of Hashem’s proposed $36.2 million FY 25 budget – which was nearly $2.5 million more than the previous year’s operating budget. The Annual Town Meeting later approved a budget that was reduced to $34,768,535, about a $1.5 million reduction in what the superintendent had requested. This year, Crabtree and other town officials took a different approach. Crabtree has been meeting regularly in recent months with Schools Superintendent Hashem, School Committee Chair Thomas Whittredge, Finance Committee Chair Kenneth DePatto and School Finance Subcommittee Chair Brian Doherty along with town finance staff in an effort asked all members about their expectations for the upcoming Town Meeting. This week, we received responses from the five Town Meeting Members in Precinct 10. Overall, we have received responses from 34 Town Meeting members. This concludes our series. Question One: What do “to understand the School Department’s budget request and key drivers – including contractual obligations, program needs, and other funding considerations,” according to Crabtree’s press release. “As part of these ongoing discussions, the superintendent and school district have agreed to meet regularly and to provide information on a recurring basis, including one-year, three-year, and five-year financial projections and periodic updates on how resources are being aligned with school and district improvement planning, strategic initiatives, and measurable steps intended to strengthen student achievement,” the press release noted. “As part of these discussions, the superintendent has agreed to bring in a consultant to help with the district’s strategic improvement you consider the top priority for the town as you prepare for the opening of the 2026 Town Meeting session? Martin Costello: My primary concern as to the best interests for the Town of Saugus, as a whole, is the maintaining of the town’s excellent Bond Rating. Going back to just 8 years plan and the implementation of actionable measures to improve the school system.” The superintendent expressed support for the new approach. “I appreciate the collaborative approach of the group and the additional allocations to the School Department,” Hashem said in a statement. “I’m committed to improving the financial transparency of the school budget and improving student learning and achievement.” In his press release, Crabtree stressed that school budgets include significant costs that must be evaluated with a multiyear lens. “Recurring expenses don’t just affect one year, they carry forward and compound,” Crabtree said. “Town Meeting should have a clear understanding of the long-term impacts, and the Town should continue planning ago, this newspaper heralded a column by you Mr. Vogler, titled “Another historic financial moment,” wherein 9 lending agencies competed in a bidding process to loan money to the Town of Saugus! All of those agencies offering very favorable interest rates on the 65.7 million dollars that the for how these costs will be supported and sustained in future years in a responsible way. Communities across Massachusetts are facing difficult decisions as rising costs put pressure on local budgets, and it is important that Saugus continues to approach these decisions thoughtfully and with a long-term view,” he said. Crabtree emphasized the importance of connecting resources to outcomes and long-term improvement. He said the entire community should want to see continued progress for Saugus students as the School Department aligns resources with a clear plan and measurable steps that strengthen educational outcomes. Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian, a former School Committee member, said he was surprised by Town of Saugus was seeking back then, of which the bulk of it (63.2 million dollars) was going to provide funding for the construction of the then new High School/Middle School. We cannot afford and by this I mean we literally cannot afCOUNTDOWN TILL | SEE PAGE 3 Crabtree’s press release. But he added that he understands why the town manager had decided to recommend the full budget request of the School Department. “He’s issuing a challenge. He’s challenging not only the School Committee, but he’s also challenging Town Meeting,” Manoogian said in an interview this week. “The town manager is saying ‘Show us what you’re going to do with the money. Prove that you can raise student achievement.’ The School Committee needs to focus on student achievement. We’re in the bottom third of the state,” Manoogian said. “We’re talking $2 million more and that’s huge,” Manoogian said of Crabtree’s recommendation for additional school funding. “This is also a challenge to the parents. I hope the parents demand better of our schools,” he said. Precinct 8 Town Meeting Member Arthur Grabowski, another former School Committee Member, said he was preparing for “a huge fight at Town Meeting” over the school budget before Crabtree’s press release. “You got some Town Meeting members who are schoolteachers, and some of the discussion has turned vicious.” Grabowski characterized Crabtree’s press release as a strategic move. “Reading his press release, it seems to me that he got the School Department to admit that they need to be more careful about how they’re spending their money. And I think that’s a step in the right direction that we didn’t have before,” Grabowski said. “By Scott [Crabtree] doing it this way, he got some concesTOWN MEETING | SEE PAGE 7
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