Blackstone-Millville committee holds FY23 budget public hearing; administration urges OPEB funding and notes state grant wins

The Blackstone-Millville Regional School District School Committee held a public hearing March 10 on the proposed fiscal year 2023 budget, with Superintendent Jason DeFalco and the administration outlining priorities, revenue pressures and recommended next steps. "The budget for FY23 is anchored in our district improvement strategy," DeFalco said, emphasizing alignment between fiscal planning and instructional goals.

DeFalco and Assistant Superintendent Matt Erinworth walked the committee through the budget process, which included principal needs assessments, cost-center manager reviews and five-year trend analysis. The presentation highlighted two revenue drivers shaping local assessments: Chapter 70 determinations and out-of-district sending tuition. DeFalco said the district is paying "over $1.5 million" for students attending schools outside the district, a major cost driver.

On town assessments, the administration noted the minimum local contribution change for Blackstone is an increase of approximately $480,865 (about 6.83 percent) compared with FY22; the district-wide grand total percent increase over FY22 was presented as 4.58 percent for Blackstone and 3.89 percent for Millville. The administration also identified capital-related principal payments as a cause of additional assessment pressure.

The committee heard an update on the district's OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) funding and E&D (excess and deficiency) position. Administrators said the district will open an OPEB trust and deposit $50,000; they recommended the towns each contribute $100,000 annually to the trust going forward to build a sustainable funding stream for retiree benefits.

Administrators noted recent grant successes. "To date we've been successful in writing over two million dollars worth of grants," Erinworth said, and reported a new state grant of up to $80,000 to offset the cost of a proposed K–12 math series.

Public comment during the hearing included a lengthy statement from Melissa of Blackstone, who raised concerns about teacher turnover and student access to inappropriate internet content on Chromebooks. "My daughter... has gone on her sixth teacher that has left this year as a freshman," Melissa said, and described an incident in which a student used another student's Chromebook to access pornographic content. District administrators acknowledged the concerns and said they would follow up with the family and review technology and supervisory procedures.

Next steps: the committee expects to certify the FY23 budget on March 24, when it will also approve warrant items including stipends for school committee members and the towns' OPEB contributions. The presentation materials and assessment breakdown will be posted with the committee packet.