Nashoba committee reviews FY27 expense-side budget, flags insurance and special-education costs

The Nashoba Regional School Committee on Jan. 14 held a budget workshop focused on the expense side of the district’s FY27 budget, with administrators asking the committee to consider staffing increases, software and hardware renewals, and contingency planning for rising insurance costs.

Administration framed the session as a workshop, not a final proposal, and said revenue and assessment numbers (chapter 70, charter tuition, regional transportation reimbursements) will be updated after the governor’s budget and state publications. “This is an opportunity for the school district to show you the things that we need to execute our educational program and safety for students,” Superintendent Downing said.

Why it matters: the administration presented a preliminary operating total of roughly $74.9 million and said expense increases are currently about 6.99 percent over the prior year. Major drivers identified were salary increases for existing personnel, health-insurance premium assumptions, and special-education transportation and tuition costs—areas with limited local control and high volatility.

Key staffing and program requests included: a 1.0 FTE math and computer-science teacher at Nashoba Regional High School to meet a new four-year math graduation requirement and expand CS offerings; kindergarten teacher and assistant requests for elementary schools where enrollment projections justify additional sections; reinstatement requests for a curriculum director (ELA/social studies) and for certain student-services team-chair positions; and a 0.5 secretary position proposed across three elementaries to provide office backup and support attendance operations.

On instructional materials and software, Assistant Superintendent Laura Friend said the district’s required universal screener (Renaissance) and related platform costs must be sustained in the operating budget after grant restrictions limited prior-year offsets. “Universal screening with approved screeners, Renaissance being one of them, is required by regulation,” Friend said. The district will use a $100,000 state earmark to offset part of the platform cost this year, officials said.

Health insurance: Finance staff presented two paths—remain with the interlocal trust or pursue a broker-of-record market study—but cautioned that, for planning purposes, the FY27 budget uses a 20 percent premium increase on active-employee coverage. Ross Morkerne (finance) said the gross cost of active premiums at that assumption is “just over $9,000,000,” and after built-in offsets (including a $600,000 offset and an opt-out allowance) the projected operating impact is roughly $8.5 million.

Special education and transportation: Student-services staff described 42 students in added-district placements and dozens of special-education routes. The administration asked the committee to note that out-of-district tuition and special-education transportation are among the most volatile budget lines and committed to a route-by-route procurement review and vendor outreach to seek cost savings. Superintendent Downing said the district will report progress on that analysis at the Feb. 11 meeting.

Committee members pressed for clearer slides and more granular backup: Several members asked administration to label slides clearly (total cost vs. year-over-year increase), attach referenced prior agreements when easements or amendments are discussed, and provide route- and vendor-level detail for the transportation numbers at the next meeting.

Next steps: administration will present updated revenue and assessment estimates once state figures are released, and the committee will hold a public budget hearing on March 4 with a planned vote on March 11. The district said this workshop’s figures are preliminary and subject to change as grant, insurance and state reimbursements are finalized.