Hopkinton leaders review superintendent’s FY27 school budget; $71.8M operating base and $322,000 gap reported

The joint Hopkinton School Committee and Select Board reviewed the superintendent’s recommended fiscal year 2027 budget on Dec. 18, with presenters laying out a $71,836,488 net operating budget and a series of staffing requests aimed at special education, enrollment growth and core operations.

The presenter said the budget-building process began in late summer and included capital planning, principal and department leader presentations, and town-level coordination; a public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 8 and the school committee vote is expected Jan. 22. The presentation noted the district’s operating budget averaged roughly a 5.84% annual increase from FY20 to FY26 and that two items — a special-education reserve (about $1.09 million) and required financial software — have been folded into the FY27 operating base, adding roughly 1.7 percentage points to the starting figure.

Why it matters: officials said moving the special-education reserve into the operating budget changes how the increase is presented and prompted questions from board members about taxpayer implications. One board member summarized the concern as a…