School committee reviews FY27 budget lines and approves $900,000 HVAC design for high school geothermal

The Hopkinton School Committee on Thursday reviewed preliminary FY27 budget requests and approved spending to design a high‑school geothermal HVAC system that officials say will position the district for Green Communities and MSBA grant applications.

The committee heard in‑depth budget presentations from student services, buildings and grounds, curriculum, and central office staff as administrators described rising costs driven mainly by negotiated salary steps, increases in specialized transportation and higher out‑of‑district tuition. Miss Speedy, the student services presenter identified in the transcript as the student services lead, told the committee that the FY27 student services budget “does reflect an increase of about 10% from the FY '26 budget,” with personnel costs rising by about $821,000 (roughly 6.5%) and expense lines up about…