Business manager Mike Gerardi presented a fee-and-tuition comparison on Jan. 8 as the district prepares the fiscal-year-2026 budget, reviewing bus transportation, athletics and music-lesson fees and the programs' revenue contribution.

Key figures and comparisons
- Bus transportation: current fee $320 per student with a $960 family cap (FY25 budgeted revenue ~$770,000). Gerardi said Shrewsbury’s $320 fee is the highest among a set of asset-valley collaborative communities the district surveyed; the median among those that charge is $250 and the mean is $231. Regional districts that participate in regional transportation reimbursement cannot charge fees, the presentation noted.
- Athletics: high school per-sport fee currently $325 with a $975 family cap; FY25 budgeted revenue ~$395,000 for athletics. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch face a reduced cap: $50 per sport and a $150 family cap. Oak Middle School athletics fee remains $100 per sport with a $300 family cap and a reduced level for eligible families.
- Music lessons: fees fully fund instructor costs; FY24 rates were adjusted to $37 per half hour (parents sign up semester-by-semester for 14-lesson packages).

Participation and financial assistance
Gerardi presented FY24 participation and assistance data: 17.7% of district students are identified as low income; among program participants, about 19.8% of transportation participants received financial assistance, 11.7% for athletics and 6.4% for music lessons. The district uses the free/reduced-lunch application to identify eligibility for fee reductions.

Budget process and next steps
Gerardi said the District Management Group’s financial review will report back soon and that the superintendent will present an initial FY26 budget recommendation on Feb. 12; fee decisions would be set and communicated to families before the spring billing cycle and prior to town-meeting budget deliberations in May.

What committee members asked
Committee members raised concerns about access and participation, especially where fees might limit involvement in programs they considered central to the school experience. Members asked whether some neighboring districts embed lessons in the school day and whether instrument access or rentals are provided; Gerardi said he would seek additional comparator data and that space and staffing constraints shape offerings.

— Based on Mike Gerardi’s presentation and committee Q&A at the Jan. 8 meeting.