Committee trims $1.9 million from FY23 budget, opts to cut three administrative roles and restore four teaching positions

The Blackstone-Millville Regional School Committee approved a package of reductions on Feb. 10 intended to bring the FY23 operating budget closer to what the towns can support while preserving classroom instruction.

Finance staff presented a set of reductions totaling about $1.88 million and explained revenue offsets including circuit breaker funds, SR2/SR3 carryover and a planned use of E&D funds. Matt (presenting finance materials) said the proposed total budget after reductions was $28,562,194 and that the district would absorb many recurring costs while applying one-time and grant funds where allowable.

To protect instruction, staff recommended removing three non-teaching positions that had been proposed for the coming year — a shared academic affairs leader (a proposed shared position with Bellingham), a full-time athletic director and a full-time groundskeeper — and using those savings to restore four teaching positions. A motion to make those staffing adjustments passed by voice vote.

Committee members debated trade-offs. One member said, "Any day that we eliminate teachers we eliminate the opportunity to educate our children; we cannot eliminate teachers," arguing for preserving classroom staffs even at the cost of some extracurricular or administrative roles. Staff described that some proposals in the draft budget were new positions; the recommended removals were meant to avoid layoffs of classroom teachers and protect core programming.

The committee also discussed capital items that were intentionally excluded from the operating budget pending town-level capital deliberations. Members flagged the state Minimum Local Contribution (MLC) increase as a significant external pressure that is shifting more burden to local towns and complicating budget choices.

The motion to remove the three administrative proposals and reinstate four teachers passed by voice vote; the committee directed staff to continue refining the budget ahead of public budget certification and hearings scheduled for March.