Maynard School Committee approves Spain trip, two grants at remote session

MAYNARD -- February 5, 2026, Maynard School Committee approves Spain exchange trip and $58,000 in state grants at all-remote February session. The board voted 3-0 on each of three main actions at its February 5 meeting, chaired by Maro Hogan with members Mary Branley, Alexis Fishbone, and Natasha Rivera. A $50,000 state grant for updated timeout regulation implementation and an $8,000 arts and cultural vitality grant were both allocated to instruction; a $75,000 skills capital technology equipment grant already received will come to the board next meeting. On the FY27 budget, Superintendent Brian Haas told the committee a roughly $397,000 gap between the district's $25,575,000 request and the town's proposed allocation will be closed through approximately $200,000 in staff attrition and $200,000 drawn from the preschool revolving account, with Rivera warning against over-reliance on reserves and flagging an unresolved Assabet Valley assessment revision of approximately $250,000 as a further uncertainty.