Rutland Town School Board amends FY26 budget to add funds for asbestos remediation and approves $11.47 million budget

The Rutland Town School Board voted during a combined town/school meeting to amend its previously proposed FY26 budget to add $100,000 toward full asbestos remediation and then approved a total expense budget of $11,468,468 for fiscal 2026.

Lewis, identified in the transcript as the presenter for the school budget, opened the school board discussion with a multi‑point breakdown: “The budget expense is currently up by 7.5%,” Lewis said, and attributed the increase primarily to contractual salary and benefits (+$330,000), one‑time building repairs (+$350,000) and secondary tuition (+$114,000). Lewis described how education spending and tax rate estimates are calculated using equalized pupils, the property yield, and the common level of appraisal (CLA); he gave the district’s equalized pupil count as rising from 769 to 794.

Board members debated whether to fund asbestos abatement and HVAC work in the present budget or spread costs over multiple years. During that discussion a board member moved to “amend already passed budget to add back hundred thousand towards full remediation asbestos.” The board recorded the motion as passing (3‑0). Later in the discussion Lewis stated budget line amounts of $160,000 for HVAC work and $290,000 for asbestos abatement as the figures the board would include in the FY26 expense total; the board then moved and approved a total expense of $11,468,468. The school presenter said those figures yield a per‑pupil education spending of $13,005.87, a 1.27% increase in spending per pupil compared with the current year, and the board’s estimate of an FY26 tax rate after adjustments was approximately $1.39 per $100 of assessed value (an estimated 11.61% decrease from the prior rate after statewide adjustments discussed by staff).

Board discussion acknowledged uncertainty in revenue timing. Members discussed a possible tuition‑overpayment refund from the supervisory union that could be available this fiscal year and could be applied to partial remediation costs if received before June 30. Lewis told the board he could run scenarios showing the tax impact of various amounts; he stated that adding $150,000 to the project would increase the net tax decrease from 12.93% to about 11.14% (figures are the board’s estimates presented during the meeting).

Action and votes taken at the meeting were recorded on the record as the board carried the asbestos appropriation amendment and then approved the FY26 expense total. The votes were taken by board voice; specific roll‑call names were not recorded in the transcript excerpt.

Ending: The school board approved the FY26 expense figure and adjourned the school portion of the combined meeting; the town meeting portion remained warned for voter action on March 3–4.