Hello Dolphin Community,
School Committee voted to adopt the 2026-2027 operating budget on Monday, March 9th. They approved a budget of $83,748,973 with is a 4.233% increase over last year. After having met with both the Yarmouth and Dennis Select Boards this past week we know that this budget will require an override in both towns. There are several items that continue to put pressure on school and municipal budget across the state (health insurance costs, transportation, inflation, utilities, and ensuring competitive wages). We have worked very hard to create a budget that keeps programming in place, while also understanding the impact on taxpayers of increased costs. This budget proposal does include 13 staffing reductions across the district.
As stated above, the district's budget for next year is contingent on Proposition 2 1/2 overrides passing at Town meeting and the ballot in both Dennis and Yarmouth. I wanted to share some information with you as we head into those upcoming important dates.
- Yarmouth- Town Meeting is April 28th in the DYIM Auditorium. Town Elections are on May 19th.
- Dennis- Town Meeting is May 5th in the DYIM Auditorium. Town Elections are on May 12th.
- An override must pass BOTH town meeting and the ballot.
- The Yarmouth override amount is $1,481,348. The median home value is $710,002 and the estimated increase on the tax rate of this override is $.13/1,000. Which means that the median home would see an annual increase of $93.30 on their tax bill for this override.
- The Dennis override amount is $348,050. The median home value is $902,887 and the estimated increase on the tax rate of this override is $.028/1,000. Which means that the median home would see an annual increase of $25.14 on their tax bill for this override.
- If the override fails, the district will need to cut its operating budget. If the Yarmouth override fails, the district will need to cut the operating budget by $2,129,996 from the operating budget. If the Dennis override fails, the district will need to cut $1,142,909 from the operating budget.
- The difference between the override amounts and the amount the district would have to cut in the event of a failure is due to the way each town is assessed (charged) by the district for educating the students.
- An override failure will result in 34 to 38 positions cut (in addition to the 13 listed above) in our school district and have a large negative impact on the district, affecting our ability to offer a wide variety of enrichment programming (like our excellent Middle School theater program above), and even some of our basic services. A more detailed presentation on this will be provided to the School Committee at their April 6th Meeting.
We ask that you please discuss this information at home, with your neighbors, in the supermarket, anywhere you can. Please ask questions and be sure to check out our budget webpage by
following this link here.
Thank you for your ongoing support,
Marc J. Smith, Ed.D.
