Swampscott Public Schools presented a projected budget of $35,484,011 for the 2027 fiscal year during a Thursday evening School Committee meeting.

The estimated budget represents an increase of 3.96%, or $1,352,998, from the previous year and is anchored by “fiscal responsibility” while keeping student growth in mind, according to Superintendent Jason Calichman. On February 5, the School Committee will vote to approve the budget at a public hearing. It will go to the Town Meeting Members’ approval in May.

Vice Chair Glenn Paster shared words of praise for the budget on Thursday.

“I think this is a very fair budget,” said Paster. “We were determined to keep that number as low as it could go without impacting the students.”

The data Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Cheryl Herrick-Stella presented on Thursday shows the school district is in line with surrounding districts in terms of total expenditure per pupils.

In a summary presented by Herrick-Stella, the budget was split up into five cost centers: administration, district wide programs, general education, school facilities and special education. The biggest increase from the 2026 fiscal year to the 2027 fiscal year will be within administration, with a projected increase of 18.35%.

Herrick-Stella said the administrative increase can be attributed to lane changes for teachers and non-union salary increases. A lane change for a teacher is the equivalent to a promotion in the private sector, Herrick-Stella explained. Lane changes are how teachers receive salary increases. There are 71 anticipated lane changes for next year, compared to a recent average of 47 per year.

Increases in the other four cost centers range from .28% in district wide programs to 6.75% in school facilities. The rise in school facilities costs are driven by new contracts with electric and gas providers.

“The majority of our budget is going to students themselves, not overhead costs or utility bills,” said Herrick-Stella.

The elementary, middle and high school projected budgets are expected to rise 1.6%, 6.4% and 5% respectively. Multi-tiered support systems, additional teaching roles at the middle school, professional development and high quality instructional materials at the high school were some of the areas of focus for new investments in the schools.

Calichman said the projected increase of 3.96% from the 2026 fiscal year to the 2027 fiscal year is a testament of being mindful of the town’s financial constraints and every tax dollar. He said the 3.96% projected increase to the budget is lower than many other districts in the area.

“We’re really proud of the work that went into this,” said Calichman. “We want to thank everybody for their investment in Swampscott Public Schools. With this budget…we feel we can improve the areas we need to improve on, enhance our programs and ultimately support our kids.”