Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School presented its FY26 proposed budget (accepted by the school committee March 3) and described program expansions that the district says are funded largely by state grants and existing reserves. The FY26 assessment to member towns is proposed at $30,298,721 (total budget including school choice is listed as $30,592,510); Chapter 70 and Chapter 71 preliminary estimates from the governor's budget were cited as $14,565,806 and $1,375,375 respectively.

The presentation matters to the school’s 10 sending towns because the district’s required minimum municipal contributions collectively increase by $388,016 and transportation assessments rose by $345,176, the district said. The budget includes a $1,552,003 debt-service assessment (listed as $845,000 in principal and $707,003 in interest) and proposes using $500,000 from excess and deficiency (E&D) funds to reduce a prior-year net-school-spending shortfall.

Key program and personnel changes are front-loaded in the FY26 plan. The district plans to expand a newly created diesel vocational program to a two-instructor model (one instructor hired midyear, a second proposed in FY26), funded with a Capital Skills Lab Modernization grant reported as “just over $700,000.” The grant will also underwrite conversion of an existing small-engine repair space into a dedicated diesel lab (taking advantage of existing ventilation and drains), creation of a state-of-the-art IT/marketing lab, and other shop conversions. The budget lists purchases for shop equipment, a steaming oven for culinary, a utility vehicle for grounds, updated HVAC student workstations and a new frame machine for auto collision.

The district also proposes adding a vocational instructional coach, a health/dental vocational aide for dental assisting, and 10 part‑time summer student positions to assist buildings-and-grounds staff and provide student work opportunities. Contractual wage increases and a cited 18% projected rise in health-care costs are factored into personnel spending. The district said its FY26 operational budget does not require assessments above member towns’ minimum contributions beyond those increases already noted.

Bay Path staff reviewed enrollment and seat allocations: the district projects 1,236 students next year across all grades and 330 available freshman seats. Charlton was listed at 2,053 school‑age children (11.6% of district school‑age population of 17,695) and allotted 38 incoming freshman seats under the district’s allocation formula. The presenter explained wait‑list practices and that unfilled seats are reallocated to the sending town’s waiting list (for example, Charlton’s spots remain with Charlton until acceptance windows and reallocation occur).

Presenters described an ongoing admissions-policy discussion at the state level. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has proposed regulatory changes that would move many vocational‑technical admissions toward a lottery-based model. Under the draft DESE approach described to the group, students meeting basic eligibility would each receive a ticket; additional “tickets” could be added for better attendance or absence of serious discipline incidents, creating a weighted-lottery mechanism. District officials urged interested residents to submit public comments to DESE while the rulemaking comment period is open.

District leaders said letters of acceptance and wait‑list outreach would be finalized and sent to families within the week using the district’s current admissions policy; the district emphasized it is operating this year under its established selective/score-and-lottery hybrid process while the DESE proposal is still in public comment.

Why this matters: the budget and program changes affect town assessments, seat allocations, and the district’s ability to add career‑training capacity. The DESE rulemaking — if finalized — could change how vocational seats are allocated across sending districts statewide and may increase demand for more seats in vocational programs.

The presenter noted the FY26 budget is preliminary and subject to change as state budget figures move through the legislature; the district intends to update towns if state Chapter 70/71 numbers change.