Officials from Blue Hills Regional Vocational School presented their preliminary FY26 operating budget to the Finance Commission on March 20 and described the district’s funding posture, enrollment trends and assessment calculations.

The presentation and numbers

Blue Hills presented a preliminary FY26 budget of $27,719,605, representing a 1.28% increase from the prior year. The district reported it expects a 2.2% increase in Chapter 78 state aid in preliminary governor’s figures and is using a 1.93% inflation assumption in its planning. The district said it will contribute approximately $686,000 of excess and deficiency (E&D) funds and special revenues to lower individual town assessments.

Norwood‑specific impacts

Blue Hills staff told commissioners that Norwood’s foundation enrollment count for the district is 94 students for FY26, a decline of 14 students from the prior year. That enrollment change reduced Norwood’s required local contribution by about $189,207; presenters reported the Norwood assessment for FY26 at approximately $1,400,072.93 (district assessment includes the required contribution plus the operating assessment and debt service related to renovation projects).

Program and budget drivers described

Presenters (district superintendent and business manager) said the budget pressure comes primarily from contractual salary obligations (the district is in year two of multi‑year contracts), health‑insurance increases through the GIC, transportation contract increases and recurring program needs (athletics, transportation, instructional materials for shop programs). The district also cited capital transfers to an OPEB trust (the district established an OPEB trust in late 2024) and capital stabilization transfers as budget items.

Enrollment and capacity

Blue Hills reported a total district enrollment of about 910 students for FY26, a decrease of 18 students overall. Presenters said the district typically sees waitlists (they cited an applicant pool of roughly 500 candidates for approximately 248 available seats) and annual fluctuation in member‑town counts is normal and can move assessments year to year.

Ending

No formal vote on the regional assessment occurs at the town level during this meeting. Blue Hills staff asked member towns to review the preliminary figures and noted final state aid and Chapter 78 calculations — and thus final assessments — will be set once the legislature completes action and the district’s final budget is approved in June.