Cape Ann's three school budgets, side by side

The short version:

• Cape Ann's three public school districts are spending $107.2 million on their schools this school year: Gloucester $55.8 million, Manchester Essex $33.7 million and Rockport $17.7 million.
• All three spend more than the state requires. Rockport spends more than twice the minimum. Manchester Essex spends 183% of it and Gloucester 136%. The average Massachusetts district spends about 126%.
• Per student, Rockport spent the most in the latest state figures: $28,232. Manchester Essex spent $25,121 and Gloucester $22,663. The state average was $22,414.
• On the spring 2026 MCAS tests, Manchester Essex students scored well above the state average. Gloucester and Rockport students in grades 3 to 8 scored below it in reading and math.
• Work on next year's school budgets starts this month. The end of this story shows when and how you can speak up.

Why we did this

This week we are publishing a close look at each district's school budget: Gloucester on Monday, Manchester Essex on Wednesday and Rockport on Thursday. Each one shows where the money goes, what the state requires and how students are doing, school by school.

This story puts the three side by side. The numbers can help you ask good questions about your own schools. They cannot tell you everything. They do not show how much a student grew, how safe and welcoming a school feels, or the work of teachers and staff every day.

Who decides

State law gives each city and town one vote on its schools: the total. The elected School Committee decides how to spend it. The three districts reach that total in different ways.

• Gloucester: The City Council votes the total for the schools. Under state law, the council cannot say how the money is spent. The School Committee makes those choices. This year the committee asked for $56.8 million to keep things the same. The council approved $55.8 million, so the schools cut 15.5 jobs.
• Rockport: Town meeting votes the total. The five member School Committee decides how to spend it. This year's budget has no big cuts, after 32 positions were cut over three years.
• Manchester Essex: The two towns share one regional district. The School Committee adopts the budget by a two thirds vote, and both towns must approve their shares. This year Manchester pays $18.1 million and Essex $11.1 million. Essex voters approved a $185,727 tax override in May to pay their part.

The money

Budgets are for this school year. Students are from October 2025. Spending per student is the state's figure for the 2023 to 2024 school year, the latest posted. The state figures it the same way for every district, so it can be compared fairly. The budgets alone cannot, because each one pays for different things.

Rockport's schools also bring in money from other towns. About 1 in 4 Rockport students comes from another town through the state's school choice program, most of them from Gloucester, and their home towns pay Rockport tuition.

The state minimum

Massachusetts sets a minimum each district must spend on its schools. The amount depends on how many students a district has and what they need. Some costs count toward the minimum, such as teachers, health insurance and retirement. School buses, school lunches and building loans do not.

In the 2024 to 2025 school year, the latest with final numbers, all three districts spent well above it:

• Rockport: 231% of the minimum, more than twice what the state requires.
• Manchester Essex: 183%.
• Gloucester: 136%. That cushion is getting smaller. The state minimum has risen quickly in recent years, and Gloucester's budget for last year planned to spend 131% of it.

The average Massachusetts district spent about 126% of its minimum.

Who the students are

The districts serve different students. Students from low income families, students with disabilities and students learning English often need extra help, and that help costs more.

Test scores

MCAS is the test Massachusetts students take each spring. The scores show the share of students who "met" or "exceeded" expectations, which means they showed they know the material for their grade. That is a high bar. A student who is "partially meeting" expectations is still learning the material, and that is not a failing grade.

Grade 10 scores fell across Massachusetts this spring. The share of 10th graders meeting expectations in reading dropped from 51% to 45% statewide. Scores fell further in Rockport and Manchester Essex. In Rockport, grade 10 reading went from 67% to 51% and math from 59% to 40%. In Manchester Essex, reading went from 82% to 65% and math from 82% to 66%. In a small district, a few students can move these numbers a lot: Rockport tested 59 tenth graders in reading.

Gloucester's scores held about steady, but they have been below the state average in grades 3 to 8 every year since 2019.

How many students graduate

The state tracks each class from the time students start ninth grade. For the class of 2025:

• Manchester Essex: 97.4% graduated in four years (116 students).
• Rockport: 91.3% (46 students).
• Gloucester: 84.7% (202 students).
• State: 89.3%.

Does more money mean higher scores?

Not on its own. Rockport spends the most per student and scored below the state in grades 3 to 8 this spring. Manchester Essex spends less per student than Rockport and scored the highest. Gloucester spends close to the state average and scored below it.

Scores also reflect things a school budget does not control, such as the needs students bring with them. That is why we show who the students are next to the scores. Each district story goes school by school.

What could squeeze next year's budgets

The same pressures show up in all three districts:

• Health insurance. Gloucester's school health insurance costs rise $1.38 million this year. Rockport's town health benefits are budgeted to rise 10.89%. Manchester Essex got an 8.4% increase, far less than the 14% it had planned for, after a big jump the year before.
• One time money and savings. Gloucester's budget leans on $880,000 that will not come back. Manchester Essex used $600,000 of its savings two years in a row and is running low. Rockport used $438,335 from its school choice reserve.
• Fewer students. Manchester Essex has 26% fewer students than in the 2012 to 2013 school year. Rockport's own study projects about 118 fewer students over the next three years. Fewer students can mean fewer teachers, but many costs stay the same.
• Old buildings. Gloucester's Beeman and Plum Cove schools opened in 1956 and 1966. Essex Elementary is about 70 years old, and voters in Manchester and Essex will decide on a $95.3 million replacement on Nov. 16 and Dec. 10. Rockport Elementary opened in 1953, and Rockport is paying for a study of its school buildings this year.

Budget season starts now

Work on the budgets for the 2027 to 2028 school year starts this fall. These dates are based on posted calendars and last year's steps, so they may change.

• Gloucester: The School Committee meets Nov. 4 and 18 and Dec. 2 and 16 at 6 p.m. Its Building and Finance Subcommittee, where the budget work starts, meets Nov. 9 and Dec. 9. Last year the committee voted its budget request in April, and the City Council voted the total in June.
• Manchester Essex: Last year the School Committee first discussed the budget in mid November, saw a draft in early December and held public hearings in December and February before its vote.
• Rockport: Last year district leaders began in early November. The School Committee held its hearing and vote in February, and town meeting voted in April.

Anyone can attend these meetings and sign up to speak. You do not need to be an expert. You can ask a question, share what you see at your child's school or say what matters most to you. At Rockport's budget hearing last February, no one from the public spoke.

About the numbers

Spending per student, the state minimum, student groups, MCAS scores and graduation rates come from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Budgets, votes, cuts and savings come from each district's budget book and School Committee minutes, as reported in our district stories. We did not adjust any dollars for inflation. We checked every figure on Oct. 7, 2026.