Hingham School Committee Unanimously Approves $72.8 Million FY27 Operating Budget

HINGHAM -- March 18, 2026, Hingham School Committee unanimously approved a $72,847,183 fiscal year 2027 operating budget and split 4-2 on a contested plan to drain a long-dormant special education reserve fund. Superintendent Katie Roberts and Assistant Superintendent Aisha Opong, presenting the same figures the committee reviewed on March 3, secured the unanimous operating budget vote after brief discussion about unresolved elementary enrollment projections, which Roberts said would not be finalized before May. The reserve fund vote was more contentious: Roberts and Opong, citing advice from school counsel John Coughlin, recommended transferring up to $400,000 from a reserve established by Town Meeting in 2014, and never previously tapped, to offset out-of-district tuition and transportation costs required under the town's Memorandum of Understanding. Members Carrie Knee and John Mooney voted no, with Knee saying she was "deeply uncomfortable with draining it now without a plan to replenish it," and Mooney questioning whether counsel's interpretation was binding. The committee also conducted first reads of four updated nutrition policies, with a second read and vote set for Monday.