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Blackstone-Millville school committee approves FY26 budget, capital and multiple warrant articles
Summary
The Blackstone-Millville Regional School District committee voted unanimously March 6 to adopt its FY26 operating and capital budgets and approved a series of warrant articles—including OPEB contributions, playground funding and truck purchases—after presentations from district leaders.
The Blackstone-Millville Regional School District school committee voted unanimously March 6 to adopt its fiscal year 2026 operating and capital budgets and to approve multiple warrant articles, district officials said.
The committee certified a gross operating budget and then applied a series of state and local offsets, bringing the total FY26 budget presented by Director of Finance Joe Spagna to $32,054,718. Spagna told the committee the figure represented about a 7% increase over last year and noted a Chapter 70 funding increase tied to enrollment growth and use of excess-and-deficiency (E&D) funds to minimize local impact.
"Our total budget for FY26 is $32,054,718. That's a 7% increase over last year's budget," Spagna said, summarizing revenues, one-time fund consolidations and a planned $350,000 pre-purchase to smooth out out-of-district tuition costs.
Why it matters: The approved budget sets staffing and program priorities for the coming year, including targeted restorations of previously reduced positions, additional English language learner capacity and capital work prioritized in the district's five-year plan.
Votes at a glance - Adopt gross operating budget (motion by Ted Novio; seconded by Chuck Dunton): approved by voice vote (ayes unanimous). - Apply reimbursements and offsets (Chapter 70, regional transportation, school choice, charter reimbursements totaling offsets described by Spagna): approved by voice vote. - Assessments to towns: Blackstone assessed $12,054,511 (breakout: minimum contribution $8,980,523; exclusionary costs $1,145,028; supplemental investments $1,928,960); Millville assessed $3,850,938 (breakout provided). Motions passed unanimously. - Capital and interest budgets: Blackstone capital/interest $339,983.53 (JFK boiler/windows, roof projects, feasibility study fees) and Millville capital/interest $163,983.99 (boiler, roof, feasibility study); both approved unanimously. - Warrant articles and other approvals (selected): OPEB contributions (Blackstone and Millville), playground funding for FWH Middle School (Millville portion $17,255; Blackstone portion $52,745), plow utility trucks (Millville $29,580; Blackstone $94,420 as read and clarified), and school committee stipends article authorizing $1,500 per member and $1,800 for the chair: all approved by voice vote. - Grants accepted: innovation pathways grant ($35,000) and a work-based learning implementation/resource grant ($21,000): both accepted unanimously.
Committee members asked for details about several capital items during deliberations. When asked about the plow truck that was proposed for replacement, one member asked for the vehicle year and mileage. Spagna described structural and rust problems with the existing apparatus and said the district had been spending money each year to keep it running.
The motions were handled sequentially and, where required, were seconded and carried by voice votes. The committee recorded movers and seconders in the record when given; explicit roll-call tallies were not listed in the transcript and outcomes were announced by voice.
What comes next: With the budget and warrant articles accepted, the district will proceed with planned hires and capital purchases outlined in the FY26 plan and move forward with the MSBA feasibility work and other authorized projects. The committee set its next meeting for March 20, 2025.
