School department requests warrant funding for Medicaid billing positions, IT lab refresh and vendor contract authorization
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Summary
School officials asked selectmen to place multiple education-related warrant articles before town meeting: a $300,000 bridge appropriation to expand Medicaid billing and support three positions, $40,000 and $30,000 for two high‑school lab refreshes, authorization to accept a one‑time foster‑care transportation reimbursement and approval to award vendor contracts.
Norwood school department staff presented several warrant items to the Board of Selectmen on April 8, asking the selectmen to place those items on the special/annual warrant so the town can appropriate one‑time funds where needed.
Medicaid/Medicare claiming and staffing: School leaders described a plan to increase Medicaid reimbursements by expanding the range of claimable related services (speech, occupational and physical therapies, BCBA services). The department asked the town to appropriate $300,000 from free cash in FY26 as one‑year bridge funding to add or reassign staff who will generate additional Medicaid revenue; two of the positions are already included in the FY26 operating budget and a third would be a new position to be supported by the boosted revenue after the first year. The administration said current Medicaid revenue averages about $350,000 per year, and the proposed staffing and documentation changes are intended to increase that recurring revenue.
School IT capital: The school department requested standard capital‑outlay appropriations for two lab refreshes at Norwood High School — $40,000 for the television/media lab and $30,000 for the computer‑science lab — noting the high school is now roughly a dozen years old and certain instructional technology requires updating.
Foster‑care transportation MOU: The school department asked selectmen to authorize a one‑time acceptance of a small reimbursement (about $2,800) for foster‑care transportation expenditures already submitted to the state under a required memorandum of understanding.
Vendor contract authorization: School staff described recently completed procurement processes for food‑service management and pupil‑transport contracts. The committee recommended authority to allow multi‑year contracts (the school committee was prepared to award three‑year contracts but the administration asked selectmen to consider up to five‑year terms for continuity and potentially better pricing on services such as yellow‑bus transportation and food management.
Why it matters: The Medicaid/Medicare item is designed to create recurring revenue that will offset costs of required special‑education services and will fund staff who perform billable services. The capital requests and contract authorizations are a routine part of school operations and procurement.
What’s next: Selectmen asked for confirmations from capital outlay and procurement staff and said the proposed articles will be placed on the warrant for further deliberation; the board requested final contract documents and procurement approvals ahead of town‑meeting votes.