North Providence schools propose $34.15 million FY26 ask; administration warns town funding gap could force cuts

Superintendent Goho presented the school department’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, asking the town for a local appropriation of $34,147,734 — an increase of $1,297,000 from the FY2025 local appropriation. Goho said the request is intended to maintain current services rather than expand staff or programs.

The administration said projected state aid for FY26 is $30,000,704, a modest increase from FY25, and cautioned that a state calculation error counting preschoolers as full-time students will reduce that figure when the March number is released. Goho also reported a projected Medicaid reimbursement of $500,000 for FY26, down from $700,000 the prior year. Finance staff advised that Medicaid reimbursements have decreased in recent years and that collections can vary as vendor staffing and billing change.

Why it matters: the administration said state and federal one‑time funds that helped balance recent budgets are gone, and the district cannot run a structural deficit under state law. Goho told the committee the municipal ask is 3.94% of the town levy — under the 4% legal cap but near the limit — and said the district is reluctant to request the cap but needs additional local support to avoid program contractions.

Details and tradeoffs: Goho said the administration has already removed roughly $1.1 million from an earlier proposal to reduce the municipal ask. Specific reductions or changes the presentation identified include removing the $420,000 Chromebook replacement line from the FY26 operating request (the district used fund balance for replacements in FY25), reducing the contracted nursing request by $416,000, and cutting $250,000 from out‑of‑district special‑education tuition projections. The presentation also listed other ongoing cost pressures: contractual salary steps and negotiations ($913,000 in salary step/contract increases), fringe benefits ($293,000), higher maintenance and transportation costs, and rising tuition charges from private placements.

Enrollment and programs: Goho and staff said district enrollment is stable (a modest projected increase of about 14 students) and that North Providence continues to see growth in multilingual learner enrollment (the district’s MLL population was reported around 455 students). The administration highlighted prior use of federal ESSER funds and grant revenue to stabilize services and said those sources are no longer available.

Next steps: the committee set a budget workshop for Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 5:30 p.m. Committee members will provide input at the workshop and the administration expects to bring a recommended budget to the committee for a vote at the February meeting before forwarding it to the town.

Quotes: “This is not a budget that is expanding. We're not expanding staff. We're not expanding programs,” Superintendent Goho said as he outlined the request. Goho added that the district must make its case to the town because “town's appropriation over the last multiple years has really been picked up by the state and federal government and grants that we've written.”

Follow‑up: staff said they will refine state aid and Medicaid numbers when updated state numbers are released in March and will present any changes at the February workshop and meeting.