District overview
North Andover Public Schools
How North Andover Public Schools is funded, who runs it, and what is happening this year.
How is the district funded, and why does the budget process matter so much right now?
North Andover funds its schools the way most Massachusetts towns do: the School Committee builds a budget each winter, the elected Town Manager and Finance Committee weigh in, and Annual Town Meeting votes the final number every May. There is no separate school tax override in most years — the schools compete for the same property-tax dollars as police, fire, and public works. In fiscal year 2024 the district ran into serious trouble: an outside review (Clifton Larson Allen) found the school department had been under-budgeting for years, absorbing a federal COVID-relief funding cliff, and not tracking spending closely enough. The result was a deficit of several million dollars, a personnel investigation, and staff layoffs. The 2025-26 and 2026-27 budgets show a district trying to rebuild trust: monthly public budget updates, a district-town agreement on financial reporting, and a school committee that now votes on every budget transfer.
Five elected members decide
The School Committee has five members, elected town-wide to three-year terms in North Andover's March town elections. It hires and evaluates the superintendent, adopts the budget the town votes on, and sets school policy.
The FY27 budget still leans on one-time money
The $72.2 million budget approved for 2026-27 is about $1.5 million more than the town's suggested increase. The superintendent is covering that gap with a one-time pot of state special-education reimbursement money (Circuit Breaker funds), not new recurring revenue — and has told the committee the town will likely need to consider a budget override the year after.
A single warehouse now changes what the town can afford
A big jump in local tax revenue from an Amazon distribution facility is why the town can borrow roughly $51 million for the new Kittredge Elementary School without asking voters for a separate debt-exclusion override. Town officials were explicit that this would not have been possible without that new tax base.
None of this means the district is being run badly today. Every FY26 and FY27 budget update collected here shows the district finishing at or under its appropriated total, and the committee has repeatedly thanked the finance team for more transparent, more frequent reporting than in past years.
Where the district stands
Up about $3 million (4.3%) from FY26's $69,200,000. Later adjusted to $72,294,000 to reflect certain IT services moved from the town's budget into the school budget.
The district finished the year at about $69.14 million, under the appropriated total, every month the budget was tracked in the minutes collected here.
State-reported count across all grades, pre-K through 12. Not restated as a single district-wide total in the collected board minutes.
Calculated: FY27 operating budget ($72,200,000) divided by 2025-26 DESE enrollment (4,362). This is a district-wide number covering transportation, special education, and central services — not a single school's allocation.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority is reimbursing $28.7 million (36.6%) of this; the town borrows the rest.
Most School Committee business is districtwide (budget, policy, contracts) — 14 of 25 reports collected here are scoped to all schools. Of the 11 reports that name a specific school, 8 are about the Kittredge Elementary rebuild.
Major projects
New Kittredge Elementary School
Approved and funded — design underwayThe 70-year-old Kittredge Elementary building and its portable classrooms are being replaced with a new school on the same site, built for 335 students with 15 classrooms and a full-size gym. The Massachusetts School Building Authority approved the project and is paying $28.7 million of the $79.8 million cost; Town Meeting approved the town's roughly $51 million share, financed with a 30-year bond, with near-unanimous support.
- Building committee approves schematic design; total project budget reported at ~$80 million
- Schematic design formally submitted to the MSBA
- MSBA Board votes to approve the project; final cost set at $79.8 million, state share $28.7 million (36.6%)
- Public design forum: 15 classrooms, full gym, capacity for 335 students
- Annual Town Meeting approves the bond to fund the town's share, with near-unanimous support
Funding
MSBA state reimbursement ($28.7M) plus a 30-year town bond (~$51.1M, ~4% interest, ~$3M/year debt service)
Town officials said new local tax revenue from an Amazon warehouse lets the town borrow for this project without a debt-exclusion override, so it should not raise the average tax bill.
Five-year strategic plan, “Growing Together, 2026-2031”
Framework endorsed — full plan due this fallWorking with a consultant (the Teaching & Learning Alliance) and about 30 staff, family, and community members, the district built a five-year plan around five focus areas: teaching and learning, community engagement, resources/facilities/technology, communication, and school culture and climate. The School Committee endorsed the mission, vision, and five focus areas in June 2026; the detailed action steps and budget were not yet set.
- Planning committee and community survey launched
- 694 survey responses reported; early strengths and challenges shared
- Five focus areas presented to the committee
- Committee formally endorses the mission, vision, and five focus areas
Funding
General fund staff time plus a paid consultant contract
Specific action steps, timelines, and costs were not yet assigned as of this collection.
Built from every School Committee agenda, minutes set, and presentation the district posted from August 2025 through July 2026, plus prior-year records reviewed for context. Figures tied to a specific collected document are marked verified with a source link. Figures from outside sources (state data, calculations) are marked context.
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