Mansfield Expected to Pay More to Fund Southeastern Voc-Tech

With an increase in students in Mansfield students expected to attend Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School, residents can expect to pay slightly more to help fund the Easton-based school pending the approval of the school’s new budget.

Projections show that next year 54 Mansfield residents will attend the regional school, up from 46 this year. The increase of 14.8 percent represents the highest increase for any town in the Southeastern school district.

The new students changes Mansfield’s contribution to the school from $449,127 to $518,625, an increase of $69,498.

Brockton will contribute the most, providing the school with nearly $3 million of funding. 60.4 percent of the school is made up of students who reside in the nearby city.

The school would also like permission to take $200,000 out of excess and efficiency fund. The fund can carry up to five percent of the operating budget and has about $1 million in it now.

The costs of transportation remains an unknown element to the budget as the school is required by the state to provide free transportation to any student living outside a two-mile radius of the school. While the state is suppose to fully reimburse the costs, 29 percent of the transportation costs were reimbursed in 2011 and the rate has increased to about 50 percent since. A final number for the next school year will not be known until this summer.

The Southeastern school district includes Mansfield, Foxboro, Easton, Sharon, Stoughton, Brockton, and Norton among other towns.