Berlin-Boylston School Committee Appoints Hoffs, Previews $26.9 Million Budget

BERLIN — February 10, 2026 — Berlin-Boylston Regional School Committee appointed Jacqueline Hoffs to a vacant seat and received a preliminary $26.9 million FY27 budget proposal at its February 10 meeting. The committee voted 4-0, with one abstention, to seat Hoffs — a seven-year Boylston Elementary PTO co-chair and vice president of the Boylston Education Collaborative — filling the unexpired term left by Lori Hart through November 2026. Finance Director Aaron presented the operating budget at $26,928,214, a 10.19 percent increase over the current year, describing it as a worst-case figure likely to decline before a public hearing on March 10. Priority requests include restoring a biology teacher and a reading specialist cut from last year's budget, adding a full-time float nurse district-wide at roughly $60,000, and purchasing a pre-K through grade 5 I-Ready math curriculum at $110,000. Interim Superintendent Al Ganem opened the meeting with a blunt warning that recent interactions with district staff — including an administrator who felt their job was threatened and staff members who left meetings in tears — were unacceptable, and said he had consulted attorneys about possible no-trespass orders for individuals whose behavior escalated.