Boylston-Berlin School Committee Approves Field Trips, Defers Budget Vote to March 10

BERLIN — March 3, 2026 — Boylston-Berlin Regional School Committee punts budget decision to March 10 hearing as assessment increases reach 12.34 percent for Boylston. Director of Business and Finance Aaron Osborne presented a level-service fiscal 2027 budget Tuesday showing Boylston's operating assessment rising by $1,124,069 and Berlin's by $729,601 — increases both towns' finance committees signaled they cannot absorb, though neither has supplied a firm target number. Boylston's Finance Committee indicated it could accept between $400,000 and $500,000 in new assessment, leaving a gap of roughly $600,000 to $700,000 before town meeting. Health insurance came in at 7.42 percent — well below a 15 percent placeholder — providing some relief, but the district's combined school choice draw of approximately $710,000 already approaches double its annual school choice revenue of $450,000. The committee unanimously approved an eighth-grade trip to Canobie Lake Park on June 12 and a US government class overnight to Philadelphia April 16-18. Osborne confirmed Tahanto Regional no longer offers AP Biology, a casualty of last year's staffing cuts.