Malden Schools Adopt $134 Million FY27 Budget

School Committee · Meeting of June 1, 2026

Malden School Committee adopted a $134.4 million fiscal 2027 budget and split over a new vice chair. The board unanimously approved the budget, which relies on $70 million in Chapter 70 state aid and $64.4 million from the city, while member Peter Piazza flagged a 169 percent jump in out-of-district tuition tied to four students now attending Boston's Horace Mann School for the deaf. In a more contentious 6-1-1 vote, Mayor Gary Christenson's nomination of Keith Bernard as vice chair drew objections from members Dawn Macklin and Jennifer Spadafora, who said longtime member Sharyn Rose-Zeiberg deserved direct outreach first; Macklin called Bernard "a good friend, a buddy," but said "a lot of us thought that Ms.

Rose-Zeiberg would have been the clear choice." The committee also voted 9-0 to hire Alphabest for after-school and summer programming, extending hours to 6 p.m., and sent a proposed bullying-prevention plan back to its Policy Subcommittee over notification-timeline concerns.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,620 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of June 1, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.