Subcommittee approves six FY2027 budgets, corrects Bay Path assessment by $19,000

Select Board · Meeting of April 9, 2026

Southbridge's Education and Human Services Subcommittee voted unanimously to forward six FY2027 department budgets to the Town Council at its April 9 meeting, headlined by a last-minute correction to the Bay Path Regional Technical School assessment. Bay Path Superintendent Kyle Brenner confirmed Southbridge's accurate assessment is $1,346,013 — roughly $19,000 below the $1,365,400 figure in the original agenda, which had been drawn from an early business manager memo using an incorrect transportation number. Brenner told the subcommittee that an unbudgeted 20 percent healthcare surcharge imposed mid-FY26 left the district needing to find $750,000, and a further 12.48 percent increase is already locked in for FY27, forcing district-wide layoffs.

The Jacob Edwards Library budget of $601,087 drew extended discussion over the state certification minimum-spending floor, with Library Director Pam noting that falling below it would eliminate more than $68,000 in annual state aid and cut off reciprocal borrowing for Southbridge residents. The subcommittee also awarded a $55,320.74 contract to Singer Kittredge for a long-delayed Senior Center kitchen hood installation, and accepted a $1,000 donation from UMass Memorial Auxiliary for the Senior Center.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of April 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.