Norwood Public Schools presented a preliminary FY26 operating budget that would increase operating spending by 8.1 percent versus FY25 and add 11.6 full‑time equivalent positions, school officials said during the Town-wide Budget Balancing Committee meeting.

Superintendent Tim (identified in the meeting as a school official) and Sean (school finance staff) described the request as focused on two objectives: resourcing the opening of the new middle school (referred to during the meeting as Cokely/Cokely middle school in the draft materials) and addressing recurring cost drivers such as collective bargaining steps and columns, cost-of-living increases, and anticipated transportation contract changes.

Key details presented by school staff: an 11.6 FTE net increase that raises overall district FTEs from about 573 to about 585 in the operating budget; 9.6 of those FTEs are directly tied to the new middle-school opening; and roughly 3.8 percentage points of the total 8.1 percent increase come from contractual salary drivers (steps, columns and COLA). The district also noted transportation as a near-term cost pressure: the district will bid its yellow-bus contract and plans to add two additional bus slots for the middle school. School staff told the committee that a tight labor market for drivers and monitors has raised in‑house transportation costs and that the first year of a new contract can show a material jump.

School officials said they have identified some offsets in other cost areas and reported that out-of-district tuitions and special-education costs are not rising dramatically in their current projection. Sean said the 8.1 percent figure is preliminary and that school leaders continue to review the budget and examine options to pare back nonessential increases while preserving services.

The district and the committee also discussed revenue-side options tied to school services. School and town staff described ongoing work to increase Medicaid (MassHealth) billing for reimbursable services delivered by district staff. The district currently accounts for roughly $350,000 in Medicaid reimbursements; officials said they are exploring a seed or transition funding approach (potentially a one-time free‑cash warrant article) to hire or reassign staff who would increase billing capacity so the program could cover its ongoing costs in later years.

Committee members asked for more detail on school staffing requests, and multiple members emphasized the need for the Fincom and the BBC to review and “trust but verify” all assumptions before recommending use of free cash for recurring operating costs. The committee also requested the district provide a line‑by‑line review in a future session so Fincom can evaluate whether particular increases are one-time startup costs, recurring service needs, or areas for further efficiency work.

No formal decisions were made. School staff and town finance staff agreed to provide updated figures — including final health‑insurance and pension numbers when available, and a more detailed list of the new school positions and associated costs — before the committee takes a recommendation to town meeting.