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Legislators urge action on rising health, special‑education and transportation costs
Summary
State legislators told the Northborough–Southborough Regional School Committee that rising health‑insurance, special‑education and transportation costs are driving local budget pressure and urged restarting the Foundation Formula Review Commission and stronger advocacy for circuit‑breaker and regional transportation reimbursement.
State legislators briefed the Northborough–Southborough Regional School Committee on Jan. 21 about state‑level steps they are pursuing to ease pressure on local school budgets.
Superintendent Greg Martineau framed the problem in the meeting’s opening remarks, saying the district is seeing “double digit increases in health care” and a sharp rise in special‑education placements and transportation that together account for a large share of budget growth. He asked the panel and local officials to advocate for greater circuit‑breaker reimbursement and full funding of regional transportation.
Sen. Kennedy and members of the delegation described bills and commission work intended to address structural funding issues. Kennedy said she has filed legislation related to the inflation factor used in Chapter 70 school aid and urged restarting the Foundation Formula Review Commission so the state can reassess how different funding pots are calculated and distributed.
Representative Kilcoyne noted that the governor’s budget is forthcoming and that the Senate has reported a package of funding bills. He and other delegation members also raised concern about the School Building Authority’s declining state contribution to construction and renovation projects.
Legislators and the superintendent identified the same short‑term priorities for local advocacy: stabilizing health‑insurance costs for FY27 renewals, restoring higher circuit‑breaker reimbursement for special education, and pursuing closer to 100% reimbursement for regional school transportation.
The discussion highlighted the constraints facing districts: a reported $292,210 Northborough share of capital assessment and projected statewide revenue challenges, all of which inform the district’s current FY27 level‑services budget planning.
The committee heard the update as it prepares its FY27 budget and will use the information during upcoming town and state budget advocacy work.
