Woburn City Council Hears Northeast Voc Budget Request of $4.53 Million More

PEPPERELL — May 26, 2026 — Woburn City Council committees approve a $677,449 increase in the city's Northeast Voc assessment and advance a Wyman School ground-lease RFP. In a lengthy multi-committee session May 26, the Finance Committee received FY27 budget presentations from six city departments — all level-funded — before hearing Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School Finance Director Jay Piccone present a total operating budget of $48,516,400, an 11.89 percent increase, yielding a member-community assessment of $29,396,815, of which Woburn's share is $3,925,906. Piccone attributed the jump to debt-service normalization on the school's new building — made possible by a one-time $2.7 million excess-and-deficiency cushion now exhausted — and to declining Chapter 70 state aid: 35 new Woburn-area students generated just $526,000 in new state funding compared to $910,000 for 31 students the prior year, prompting Piccone to say "something is not adding up." Superintendent Dave DeBerry confirmed that the lottery-based admissions system is a state mandate he personally testified against, telling the council families feel "helpless" under it. Separately, the Infrastructure and Public Lands Committee unanimously advanced an order to the full council authorizing the mayor to develop an RFP for a ground lease of the historic Wyman School at 679 Main Street, with preservation of the building's exterior a stated community priority.