ORANGE — The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District School Committee will vote on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget of $16.1 million on Thursday, April 9.
Michele Tontodonato, director of finance and operations for the Ralph C. Mahar Regional and Union 73 school districts, delivered a pair of presentations earlier this month that preceded feedback from the public. The first public hearing pertained to School Choice for the 2026-2027 academic year, while the other was about the proposed FY27 budget.
School Choice
Tontodonato said she reviewed, at the committee’s request, the impact of students who choice into Mahar.
“The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether eliminating School Choice students would result in a corresponding reduction in teaching positions and other expenses,” she said.
She said Mahar has 579 students and School Choice students account for 94, or about 16%, of them. School Choice students make up anywhere from 10% to 23% of each grade, rather than being concentrated in a single cohort. She mentioned Mahar will not accept School Choice students for eighth grade because the current class size is ideal.
Tontodonato said that if Mahar didn’t accept School Choice students, “the average class size would decrease to approximately 17 to 19 per section. No sections could really be eliminated without falling below educationally and operationally sound class sizes. As a result, the number of teachers required would remain the same.”
She said students choicing into Mahar has never, in her tenure, resulted in more teachers being hired. The only thing eliminated would be the School Choice bus, which is funded using School Choice money.
Resident and former state Rep. Denise Andrews asked that there be zero School Choice-in students, to allow for better student-teacher ratios and alleviate fiscal strain. She said good student-teacher ratios were once the most compelling reason for not increasing enrollment.
“Even a few more kids will throw that out of whack,” she said, adding that “our children deserve to have a competitive education.”
School Committee member Amber Dupell asked Tontodonato if there is a waiting list for School Choice and was told there is not. She also asked what draws students to Mahar.
“In my opinion, it’s a combination of everything,” Tontodonato replied. “I believe we offer … a lot of unique programming that appeals to students. We have pathways to graduation.”
Tontodonato also mentioned the firefighter certification class that consists of two courses. Three former students of that program are now firefighters in the area, she noted.
“Students want to come to a facility that not only has the programming they want, the electives they want, and get that education, but they want to do it where there’s fresh, warm air, which we’ve been correcting since COVID, where they can come in and be comfortable in a learning environment,” she said, “where they can play sports and extra-curriculars, like theater, in a safe facility.”
Danielle Boucher, director of curriculum for the Ralph C. Mahar Regional and Union 73 school districts, mentioned that a few years ago, Mahar was designated by the state as a Safe and Supportive School, and got a grant that enabled it to pool together teachers and stakeholders for various surveys. School Choice students reported their “feeling cared about” as their main reason for selecting Mahar. Boucher said she had expected the top reasons to be athletics or extra-curricular clubs.
Budget
In explaining the proposed FY27 budget, Tontodonato said it is $16.1 million, which represents an increase of 1.78% over FY26’s $15.8 million. She explained that health insurance for active employees came in at an 9.9% increase over the current fiscal year, which is “actually on the lower end for health insurance increases, which is sad.”
The proposed special education budget is $3.97 million. That’s up $32,418, or 0.8%, from the current fiscal year.
Orange’s town assessment for FY27 is down $503,254 (or 8.50%) for a total of $5.42 million, Petersham’s is up $207,508 (or 23.67%) to $1.08 million, New Salem’s has increased by $42,294 (or 7.69%) to $591,985, and Wendell’s dropped by $82,420 (12.86%) to $558,697.
Committee Chair Peter Cross noted that the budget requires a two-thirds vote from the 11-member committee to proceed to Annual Town Meetings in the member towns.
The increase can be attributed to contract increases, as well as out-of-district costs. There are 21 students anticipated to be placed in out-of-district programming for the 2026-2027 school year. Tontodonato said there are four rising seventh-grade students enrolling in the district who are currently receiving services outside the district. Also, $500,000 in circuit breaker funds will be used to offset out-of-district expenses, decreasing the general fund.
Teacher Craig Reid thanked everyone involved for their hard work this budget season and said that the proposed figures provided relief to Orange taxpayers like him, while also providing quality education to students.