To the Shrewsbury Public Schools Community,
To ensure the ongoing excellence of the Shrewsbury Public Schools for years to come, the Shrewsbury School Committee recently brought in a third-party team, the District Management Group (DMG), to assess the financial health of the district. You can find their report and other related documents on our long-term financial planning webpage (CLICK HERE). DMG is an educational consulting firm that works with school districts nationwide to analyze educational budgets and assist with strategic planning. DMG gave Shrewsbury high marks. Residents of Shrewsbury can be confident that our schools are effectively managed, produce a high academic return on investment, and are currently delivered at a cost per pupil that is well below average to comparable schools in Massachusetts.
“The historical analysis reveals that SPS has consistently delivered strong academic outcomes, performing in the top 15% of Massachusetts school districts, while spending in the bottom 15%. SPS students outperform their statewide peers in MCAS scores across grades 3-8 and 10, and students also demonstrate strong college matriculation and graduation rates. This success has been achieved despite SPS spending 13% less than its comparable districts and 18% less than the state average.” - DMG, March 2025 report
In addition to looking at the efficiency and effectiveness of our schools in terms of annual budget expenses and academic outcomes, District Management Group also aided the Shrewsbury School Committee in creating a budget forecasting model for future growth over the next 5 to 10 years. The purpose of this exercise was to project costs to maintain high-quality education from Pre-K to High School. The primary cost driver for Shrewsbury schools, like all school systems, is the cost of personnel. These costs tend to grow at a rate that is higher than inflation, due in part to the need to maintain a competitive environment in terms of recruiting high-quality teachers, which in turn drive educational outcomes for our youth. DMG’s model demonstrates that the costs of Shrewsbury Public Schools’ educational needs are likely to grow between 4.7%-4.9% annually over the next decade.
Finally, this report also assessed risks and provided some recommendations for the District leadership and the School Committee to maintain a strong educational and financial footing. The three risk areas include:
1. over-reliance on non-local funds for mission-critical services;
2. evolving student needs, which may warrant additional services and costs; and
3. efficient staffing model that risks becoming stretched too thin.
The Shrewsbury School Committee encourages residents, parents, educators, and staff to review this important long-term financial planning document. You may find this document on our website (CLICK HERE), as well as a slide presentation from DMG (CLICK HERE). You can find these documents and more on our webpage regarding long-term financial planning (CLICK HERE). Questions may be sent to the School Committee members at schoolcommittee@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us .
Sincerely,
Jon Wensky, Chair
Rachel Sharifipour, Vice Chair
Erin Boucher, Secretary
Sandra Fryc
Lynsey Heffernan