by Qinglong Diep
LOWELL — The Lowell School Committee voted 6-1 on Wednesday April 22, 2026 to approve a teacher staffing budget of $115,611,745, a figure that includes the restoration of a kindergarten and first-grade teacher at the Greenhalge Elementary School.
The evening’s sharpest exchange came over a City Solicitor’s opinion on what the committee can legally do with the budget. Mayor Erik Gitschier informed the body that, per the City Solicitor’s opinion, the committee holds the power to cut the superintendent’s proposed budget, but cannot unilaterally add positions back. He also stated that only the superintendent can restore cuts by formally recommending them.
Committee member Dave Conway, a veteran of the body, pushed back hard.
“I look at it and say to myself, it’s amazing since I can remember, well over 40 years, the process has been in place,” Conway said. “Every school committee, every mayor, every superintendent, and every city solicitor apparently was wrong, at least as far as the opinion is concerned.”
Mayor Gitschier told Conway that he could file “a motion to question the ruling and hire your own attorney to question that back,” but that the solicitor’s guidance stood.
The dispute resurfaced when committee member Fred Bahou moved to reinstate two Clerk Schedulers at Lowell High School, only to be reminded by the mayor that doing so required going through the superintendent.
“If the superintendent writes it in and puts it forward, then you can certainly add it that way,” Gitschier said. “A recommendation for him to add it would be a good motion.”
Bahou reworded his motion as a recommendation to the superintendent not to cut the clerk schedulers, which passed unanimously.
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Liam Skinner folded the Clerk Schedulers into a broader restoration package. This was done alongside three student support specialists at Lowell High School and the Director of Technology, totaling a $637,675, which was accomplished by drawing from the suspense account.
Conway said the package “sounds very good.”
The committee did not take a vote on this restoration package prior to adjourning the meeting. This would leave under $100,000 left in the suspense account for the funds to be allocated elsewhere in the budget.
Superintendent Skinner cautioned the committee about the pattern of restorations concentrated at the high school, noting that early pressure from community members had shaped which positions received attention.
“We’ve been very careful to try and restore positions at the high school, and I think that’s fine,” Skinner said. “We didn’t do that for all the other schools as well. I just want to be cautious about how we allocate our funds in future budget cycles.”
Greg Limperis, Director of Technology for the school district, told the committee that cutting his position would not just eliminate a person, but erase a five-year strategic roadmap. He warned the district would lose its only DESE-certified evaluator for instructional technology specialists , a state-mandated function he said no part-time technician can legally perform, and its primary shield against labor grievances and data breach liability.
With 85% of classroom panels nearing end of life and federal ESSER funds exhausted, Limperis said the district was “standing on the edge of a $4 million hardware cliff.”
He added that five years of grant and E-rate reimbursements had brought in enough to cover his salary and more.
Public comment was dominated by teachers, staff, and parents from the Greenhalge Elementary School, which had faced cuts tied based on enrollment numbers. Enrollment at the school is projected to go down by 37 students for next school year.
Speakers argued the school’s declining numbers reflected inequitable student assignment policies, not the quality of the school.
One of the speakers, a single mother of three boys enrolled at the school, described how one of the teachers supported parents through tough times, such as the pandemic.
The committee voted unanimously on a motion made by Mayor Gitschier to request the superintendent’s budget next year include stated outcomes, graphs, charts, and goals.
The budget process is expected to conclude at the next regular School Committee meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday May 6, 2026 at 6:30pm. The committee will vote on the overall bottom line figure with the changes to send over to the City Council.
