Sharon education budget talks at a standstill following board meetings

SHARON – The controversial Sharon Center School budget will remain flat for now, following two heated meetings last week that produced significant debate but no changes to the bottom line.

The meetings marked the first official gathering between the Board of Finance and Board of Education since the town’s proposed spending package was voted down by residents May 8 – a vote that saw the highest turnout in recent memory.

A second town vote has yet to be scheduled, although the Board of Finance and Board of Education plan to gather in June to continue conversations. The next budget, whether updated or unchanged, is due June 30. The previous proposed spending package was set at $11,502,187, with a zero percent increase for the Board of Education.

On Tuesday, May 19, the polarizing topic of out-of-district tuition funds was revisited during a Board of Finance meeting. Some residents and parents have been calling for the funds – which are predicted to total $32,250 for 2026-27 – to be earmarked for the school budget rather than going into a general fund in the municipal budget, where it currently sits. However, a motion to create a new line item for school use in the municipal budget failed.

During a follow-up special meeting Wednesday, May 20, BOE member Pam Jarvis said she was discouraged by Tuesday’s discussion. “What I took away from last night is that they’re not interested in a compromise,” she said of the BOF.

Sharon Day Care Center parent Veronica Betts also expressed disappointment. “This is coming down to principle,” she said during Wednesday’s BOE meeting. Betts said the BOF’s perceived unwillingness to negotiate “says that the town does not care.”

For its part, the BOF has maintained that its position is meant to address a years-old accounting error that “inflated” the budget, which can’t be reduced due to a state law that prohibits municipalities from decreasing education spending year to year, as well as on a cost-per-pupil basis. At just over $46,000, Sharon has the highest in the state.

Moving forward, BOF Chair Tom Bartram said his committee will hold a special meeting to resume budget discussions before its next scheduled regular meeting on June 16. The BOF must provide at least two weeks’ notice before holding another town budget vote ahead of the June 30 deadline. Bartram said he cannot predict whether the board will make changes or opt to send the same budget back to the vote.

If no budget is voted through by the town by then, property tax assessments will default to the current budget until a vote passes. Bartram said this would leave the school budget flat, but could have more immediate consequences for the town, which has new spending wrapped into the fiscal year ’27 proposal.

Despite the rocky start, leaders of the two boards maintain they are committed to improving cooperation as this budget season passes and the next begins. “The two sides have lost track of why we’re doing this,” said BOE Chair Philip O’Reilly. “There is a need for both sides to sit down without arguing to determine a way out of this challenge.”