North Middlesex committee opens public hearings on school choice and FY27 budget, defers final school-choice vote
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Summary
At a joint public hearing, the North Middlesex Regional School District committee opened hearings on school choice and a proposed FY27 budget (3.06% increase) and heard public concerns about capacity, special education costs and town levy limits; the superintendent recommended delaying a formal school-choice vote until April.
The North Middlesex Regional School Committee opened public hearings on school choice and the proposed FY27 budget at a meeting where the district laid out a 3.06% budget proposal and urged caution on making irreversible school-choice commitments.
Superintendent Morgan told the committee she recommended not voting on school choice at the meeting and instead waiting until April when the district will have clearer enrollment and capacity data across K–12 and the impacts of moving special-education programs. "If we make it now, we don't have a clear picture of what class sizes are going to look like," Morgan said, urging the committee to defer a binding decision until staff can model seats by grade and school.
Public attendees asked whether the committee can limit school choice by grade or school to manage capacity; Morgan said a positive vote would fix the number of seats for the year and could not be reversed for that enrollment year, while a negative vote could later be reversed to accept more students. Committee members and residents also discussed the school-choice revenue line; presenters said the district receives approximately $5,000 per choice student, with additional adders for special-education costs.
The committee followed procedure for the public hearings, reading the motion to open the school-choice hearing under Chapter 72, Section 12B of the Massachusetts General Laws and recording a roll-call vote to open and later to close the hearing. The FY27 budget hearing was also opened, and the administration indicated budget adoption is scheduled for March 10, after towns have had time to review the proposal.
Why it matters: The school-choice decision and the FY27 budget will shape class sizes and staffing across the district. With special-education enrollments rising and some towns signaling tighter levy capacity, the committee faces trade-offs between adding staff to meet mandated services and containing local assessments.
Next steps: The superintendent and business office will provide updated seat-by-grade projections and insurance/transportation figures before the April meeting; the committee will consider a final school-choice vote and adopt the FY27 budget by the statutory deadline in March.
