Marshfield Schools Detail 110 Pink Slips, Three-Tier Cut Plan Ahead of Override Vote

MARSHFIELD -- May 28, 2026, Marshfield schools warn of 110 pink slips and cuts across all grade levels without an override. Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sullivan and Assistant Superintendent Tom Miller presented a three-tiered framework of proposed reductions to the Advisory Board Wednesday, tied to a town structural deficit the school department has been directed to address at 67 percent, a share pegged at $4,524,000 plus unsettled contract costs under a no-override scenario, and $1.73 million under the $4 million override option. Tier one cuts alone include the high school writing lab, eight high school content teachers, a middle school assistant principal, and elementary math and literacy coaches; tier three, triggered without any override, would eliminate all five assistant principals district-wide, push some class sizes to 28, and potentially end freshman and sub-varsity athletic programs. Sullivan flagged a newly surfaced conflict: the school department, which submitted only a level-service budget, was not told until recently that the town's working deficit had been revised down from $7 million to $5.6 million, a discrepancy Sullivan said should reduce the school share of cuts proportionally. The district's per-pupil spending of just over $20,000 remains below 70 percent of comparable Massachusetts districts against a state average of roughly $23,000.