The Walpole School Committee voted unanimously Thursday to approve two town-warrant articles that the committee said will add recurring and one-time funding to the school operating and capital budgets, and then reviewed the district’s current grant portfolio and recent earmarks.

The vote matters because the approved articles will be built into the district’s FY26 operating budget and because several grants and earmarks are funding technology, safety and renovation work that the district said would otherwise rely on operating or capital funds.

Committee member Michael Frisius (presenting) said the district expects roughly $590,000 in additional recurring revenue to be built into the operating budget; he read an “exact” figure during the meeting but the transcript figure was unclear. Frisius said the committee is also receiving one-time funds for Medicaid, McKinney-Vento and parking-related reimbursements that are not recurring. He said the district’s overall budget increase, excluding that new recurring money, is $2,500,736, which represents a 4.47% increase from the prior year.

On capital items tied to the town warrant, Frisius said the committee received funding or approval requests for: Chromebook replacement ($387,000); security cameras for Old Post Road School ($8,500); snow-removal equipment for the new middle school ($31,000); and interactive smart boards for Feeney Preschool ($34,000). He said requests for districtwide playground padding ($200,000) and padding for the Boyden School playground were not funded and that the district used other resources to complete that replacement.

Superintendent and finance staff also summarized grant programs that sustain programs across the district. Highlights from the meeting packet and presentation:
- The district’s special education grant funding totals “almost $1 million,” according to the packet.
- The district received a $100,000 earmark last year for Chromebooks; the administration said it hopes to embed Chromebook replacement funding in the operating budget going forward.
- The committee reported an additional recent earmark of $125,000 to improve pedestrian and busing access at Walpole High School; the funds will supplement the high-school capital project and are managed in coordination with the town.
- An early-childhood grant, Title grants, METCO and other federal/state grants appear on the packet; some grants allow carryover to avoid payroll timing problems (the presenter said the IDEA/IDA grant requires leaving carryover because of its approval timing).
- The district’s nursing grant was reduced by $8,000 this year; the chronic-absentee $10,000 state grant has closed out after paying some staff time; several COVID-related grants have been fully expended.

Committee members emphasized that much of district programming depends on a patchwork of grants and earmarks and recommended continuing outreach to the legislative delegation. Committee member Bill Buckley and others recommended scheduling briefings for legislators to review recent earmarks and priorities.

Action on the two town-warrant articles (articles 2 and 5) was moved by Nancy Gallivan and seconded by Mark Green; the vote was 5–0–0 in favor.