Monty Tech presents FY2026 budget showing $30.99 million foundation, seeks grant funding to limit town assessments

Monty Tech leaders presented the regional vocational school’s proposed FY2026 foundation budget of $30,990,004.14 on March 21 to the Gardner City Public Welfare Committee, saying the plan relies on federal grants and careful cost control to limit assessments on member communities.

Thomas Brown, identified in the presentation as superintendent director, told the committee the district’s foundation enrollment is 1,488 students and that the foundation budget equates to $20,008.27 per pupil. Brown said Monty Tech’s FY2026 proposed total budget is $34,641,003.24, a 3.51% increase driven mainly by required net school spending increases, payroll and benefits, and higher utilities and insurance costs.

Brown said federal grants remain central to the school’s plan. “If we get those two grants…we’ll have about $4,200,000 just for this year that we earned from private grants,” he said, referencing a roughly $2.7 million baseline in awarded grants and a recently filed $970,000 Career Technical Initiative (CTI) grant. Brown also described Perkins, Title I and IDEA funding streams that pay for staff and industry-recognition fees for students.

Why it matters: Monty Tech’s budget determines the mandatory minimum assessment towns must pay. Brown walked committee members…