North Middlesex Regional School District Shares Information on Fiscal Year 2024 Budget

TOWNSEND — Superintendent Brad Morgan and the North Middlesex Regional School District would like to share information about the Fiscal Year 2024 budget that voters in member communities will be asked to vote on in the coming weeks. 

The proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget is $64,960,615 and represents a 6.27% increase over the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. Twenty-three percent of this increase is due to increases in health insurance and benefits costs, and a 28% of the increase is due to out-of-district and special education transportation costs. The district is also experiencing a substantial increase in utility costs.

Meanwhile, approximately $2.7 million in state funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief program, created during the COVID-19 pandemic, is no longer available, even though student needs have not diminished. 

With increased student needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a majority of the increases in the budget being mandated expenditures, most portions of the budget remain at the same service levels as Fiscal Year 2023.

“As they continue to deal with educational losses from the pandemic, our students need us more than ever to ensure they receive the education they deserve,” said Superintendent Morgan. “We are hopeful that our member communities will support this budget request for the sake of our students and for the sake of providing quality education in our communities.”

If the Fiscal Year 2024 budget for NMRSD does not pass, the district will be required to make more than $3 million in cuts, which could have a devastating effect on class sizes, staffing, and other programming just as students need extra support as they continue to overcome the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Further complicating matters is that the district now faces negotiations for a new transportation contract in Fiscal Year 2025, as well as all five of the district’s collective bargaining agreements with faculty and staff. 

“With state funds disappearing just as we face increased challenges with providing students adequate social-emotional supports and work to ensure manageable class sizes, we are faced with a very difficult budget year,” said Superintendent Morgan. “We understand that families throughout the district have to watch their budgets as well, but we are hopeful that voters will support this thoughtful spending plan which places the needs of our students first and foremost.”