NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Committee was presented the timeline for the fiscal 2026 budget on Tuesday. 

 

"The cabinet and members of the district leadership team have been very, very busy with starting to kind of proactively prepare for FY 26 budget cycle," said Superintendent Barbara Malkas. "We're still in the area of some unknowns, not having yet received the governor's budget or, you know, an understanding of where Chapter 70 [state education aid] may land."

 

Gov. Maura Healey is set to release her budget proposal on Jan. 22; the administration will meet with principals and department heads in February to develop a draft spending plan. 

 

A public hearing and final approval will be in May or June. 

 

"We've been working on it for the last couple of months, and the starting point is really looking at where we are in FY 25, look at our current staffing and making adjustments based on the current status," said Director of Finance and Administration Nancy Rauscher. "One of the key dates that we're looking forward to is Jan. 22 which is when we expect the governor to submit her budget. And that will really help inform us from a funding standpoint, in terms of what our Chapter 70 will look like."

 

She said they were looking not only at the operating budget, but other funding sources, including school choice and circuit breaker funds, with a goal of establishing a best practice of rolling over circuit breaker revenue to better support out-of-district tuition. 

 

A third funding source is grants and Carrie Burnett, grants, special projects and procurement officer, gave a presentation on grant funding for fiscal 2025.