Blackstone-Millville regional schools present FY26 certified budget; district aims to reduce town increases with offsets

Blackstone Finance Committee members heard April 9 from the Blackstone-Millville regional school district on its FY26 certified budget and how the district plans to reduce the net impact on member towns.

The district’s presentation said the FY26 certified budget is $32,054,718, a year-over-year increase of $2,196,885 (7%). District staff told the committee they had identified recurring and one-time revenue offsets including a one-time Chapter 70 “foundation” increase tied to rising enrollment, prepaid collaborative tuition, circuit-breaker special-education reimbursement, and available special-revenue fund balances. The district’s finance officer said those offsets reduce the total impact on town assessments by roughly $3,659,040.

Why this matters: The regional district’s minimum local contribution calculation and additional exclusionary costs (transportation, retiree medical, capital) are directly borne by member towns; plan changes and timing for prepayments can change the amounts assessed to Blackstone and Millville.

Key numbers and offsets described by district presenters Joe (district finance) and Dr. Filico (superintendent): Chapter 70 (state school aid) was reported to increase by about $614,058 this year after the district moved out of “hold harmless” into foundation aid; the district expects $733,030 in circuit-breaker reimbursement for special-education placements for FY25 to be available for FY26 planning; the district is certified to use $508,000 of E&D and the school committee has applied $50,000 of E&D to OPEB in the FY26 plan. The presenters said the district plans to prepay $350,000 in collaborative tuition and would ask school committee approval to add another $150,000 in prepayment; that additional prepayment would reduce Blackstone’s increase from 3.33% to about 3.0%.

The presentation outlined planned staffing shifts tied to enrollment growth: the district reported overall enrollment rising (presenters cited a current district enrollment above 1,500 and projected around 1,515), and the FY26 proposal contains hires intended to restore some classroom positions trimmed in the prior year’s consolidation (the presenters listed two elementary teachers, one middle-school world-language teacher, three high-school teachers and a 0.4 FTE English-language-learner teacher among the proposed restorations).

Special education and out-of-district placements: district staff told the committee that students placed in collaborative or private out-of-district settings are budgeted and that some individual placements can be costly; district staff noted some collaborative placements can exceed $100,000 and in some cases can approach several hundred thousand dollars per year depending on services.

Capital and facilities: the district presented a five-year capital plan with approximately $1.7 million in FY26 projects, including a proposed replacement plow truck (roughly $120,000 estimate presented) and $70,000 for middle-school playground equipment tied to an expanded grade configuration. The presenters also described ongoing work with the Massachusetts School Building Authority and a $500,000 bond anticipation note the district has received for a feasibility study; presenters said the feasibility financing will be managed to smooth the transition to eventual bonding if the project moves forward.

Assessments: the presenters showed Blackstone’s projected total assessment and explained that exclusions for transportation and capital are separated from the minimum local contribution; after offsets and the optional prepayment request, Blackstone’s FY26 increase was presented as about 3.33% over FY25 and Millville’s as 2.54% (the presenters said a recently proposed $150,000 additional prepayment would lower Blackstone’s increase to roughly 3.0%).

The committee asked about federal grant risk under changing federal policy; the presenters explained federal entitlements (Titles and Perkins) are recurring but acknowledged uncertainty about federal-level changes, and they summarized which revenues are entitlements versus competitive awards. Presenters also emphasized the district’s goal of limiting supplemental town requests: “we have not in recent history come back to ask for a second bite,” a presenter said, describing the district’s approach to living within the certified budget.

Ending: District officials said they would ask the school committee to recertify at a slightly lower number the next day to reflect additional offsets; they offered to provide the finance committee with additional detail on capital planning and collaborative tuition prepayment if requested.