Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School administrators are proposing a $27.02 million budget for the next fiscal year, a $1.92 million increase from the current budget of $25.1 million. The increase would be nearly 8 percent.
Much of the increase is due to rising staffing costs. Contractual obligations are up $745,767.62. New positions, like English and world language teachers, bring a $511,774.74 increase to the budget. And various forms of insurance bring an additional $323,957.80 in increased expenditures.
The high school committee will hold a public hearing regarding its proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 at the MVRHS library on Monday, Dec. 11, at 6:30 pm. Remote access is also available.
The high school’s budget has steadily increased over the years. In fiscal year 2022, the budget was $23.28 million.
Martha’s Vineyard Schools Superintendent Richie Smith said during a MVRHS School Committee meeting on Monday that school administrators are still working to push down the budget while meeting the school’s needs. Smith says he plans to meet with MVRHS Principal Sara Dingledy, Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools business administrator Mark Friedman, and MVRHS finance manager Suzanne Cioffi. “A few of us are going into the war room tomorrow to continue to look at this budget,” Smith said on Monday.
The high school isn’t the only Island school seeing a budget increase. The Up-Island Regional School District is facing a nearly 16 percent spike, and the district’s shared-services budget could go up 9 percent.
“The budget update is the same Island-wide,” Smith said. “Budgets are high, and we’re looking for places that we can pull back in light of the need that keeps growing.”
Copies of the draft budget are also available by request. Contact Cioffi at suzanne.cioffi@mvyps.org for a copy of the budget.
