Medfield School Committee approves $609,836 in cuts, ends elementary Mandarin program

MEDFIELD — June 11, 2026 — Medfield School Committee approves $609,836 in cuts and ends elementary Mandarin instruction. The committee voted unanimously at its June 11 meeting to finalize the spending reductions needed to reach the district's previously adopted $3.64 million budget level, following a successful Proposition 2½ override vote the prior Monday. Superintendent Dr. Marston's package eliminates 4.55 FTE positions including Mandarin teaching positions at Dale Street and Wheelock schools, a high school social studies teacher at $113,000, a high school math retirement at $70,000, and Memorial School retirements totaling $110,000, with $80,000 in additional non-payroll cuts. Marston told the committee that the cohort of 33 students who began the Mandarin program in first grade in 2015-16 had dwindled to four students taking the language through all four years of high school by the time they graduated this spring. The committee also approved a high school Iceland science trip at $4,838 per student, an art department Italy trip at approximately $4,650 per student for spring 2027, and a free Bay State Book Company collection bin at Dale Street School for year-round book recycling.