Nashoba Regional School Committee Closes In on FY27 Budget Vote at 3.65 Percent Increase

STOW — March 4, 2026 — Nashoba Regional School Committee holds required FY27 budget hearing with no public comment, setting up a March 11 vote on a 3.65 percent operating increase. Assistant Superintendent Ross Mulcairen presented the third and final budget update Wednesday evening, showing a $48,000 reduction in unemployment insurance budgeting and a modest increase in projected Medicaid reimbursement from $125,000 to $150,000, leaving the overall operating increase at 3.65 percent — the second lowest in five years. The district's excess and deficiency fund was certified last Friday at $2,437,485, with the administration recommending a $1,174,625 appropriation. Committee member Scott Powell challenged the administration on whether the district had honored a prior commitment to reduce E&D use by $200,000 annually, calling the current budget "the exact same level" as the current year; Mulcairen argued the reduction had been made against the original $1.4 million voted baseline. Capital debt assessments for the three member towns — Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow — shift modestly based on single-year October 1 enrollment at the regional high school, with Lancaster's share rising 2.67 percent and Stow's falling 2 percent.