Rockport's $17.7 million school budget: who decides, what it pays for and how students are doing

The short version:

• Rockport's school budget is $17.7 million this year. The town pays $14.6 million of it. School choice tuition, state money, grants and fees pay the rest.
• State law gives town meeting one vote on schools: the total. The elected School Committee decides how to spend it.
• Rockport spends more than twice the minimum the state requires.
• After cutting 32 positions over three years, this year's budget has no big cuts.
• About 1 in 4 Rockport students comes from another town through school choice, most of them from Gloucester. Their tuition helps pay for the schools.
• 91.3% of Rockport's class of 2025 graduated in four years. The state rate was 89.3%.

This story is part of our look at Cape Ann's school budgets. See how Cape Ann's three school districts compare (Nov. 1).

This is part of our series on Cape Ann school budgets. We looked at Gloucester's school budget on Nov. 2.

Why we are sharing these numbers

This story puts Rockport's school budget next to other facts about its schools: how many students go there, how old the buildings are, test scores and graduation rates. We share them so readers can see what the money pays for and how students are doing, all in one place.

These numbers can help you ask good questions. They cannot tell you everything about a school. They do not show how much a student grew, how safe and welcoming a school feels or the work of teachers and staff every day. The choices about this budget are made in public meetings that anyone can attend. The end of this story shows when and how to take part.

Who decides the school budget?

A state law, Chapter 71, Section 34, says the town's vote sets "the total appropriation for the support of the public schools." An appropriation is the amount of money set aside. The law also says the town "may not limit the authority of the school committee" to decide how that money is spent.

Here is what that means in Rockport. Town meeting votes one number for the schools. It cannot say "save this class" or "cut that job." The School Committee makes those choices. Rockport voters elect its five members.

This year, the School Committee held its budget hearing and voted on Feb. 4. The vote was 5 to 0. No one from the public spoke at the hearing. The Select Board and Finance Committee then recommended the budget, and town meeting approved it on April 11 by a voice vote.

The state's minimum

The state helps pay for schools. This year it is sending Rockport $1.8 million in school aid, called Chapter 70 aid. In return, the town must spend at least a minimum amount on its schools each year. The state calls it "net school spending."

Some costs the town pays count toward the minimum, such as health insurance and retirement for school workers. School buses, school lunches and building loans do not count. If a town spends too little, it must make up the gap. If it falls more than 5% short, the state cuts its aid.

Rockport spends far more than the minimum. In fiscal 2025, it spent $18.4 million that counts toward the minimum. The minimum was $8 million. That is 231% of the minimum, more than twice what the state requires. The average Massachusetts district spent 126%.

(A fiscal year is a budget year. It runs from July 1 to June 30. Fiscal 2025 ended in June 2025.)

Where the $17.7 million goes

Most of the money pays for people. Salaries are about 77% of the school budget, according to the budget book.

One big difference from Gloucester: the school budget does not pay for health insurance or pensions. The town pays those in its own budget. This year the town set aside $4.9 million for school workers' benefits, plus $108,504 for school building loans and $384,703 for students at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School. Counting the town's $14.6 million share plus all of that, the town spends about $20.1 million on public education this year.

Another change: this year the town's public works department took over the schools' fuel, electricity and vehicle costs. That moved $558,100. Not counting that move, the town's share for the schools went up 3%.

Special education is the largest part, at $6.7 million. It pays for help for students with disabilities, including about 20 students who go to special programs outside Rockport. The budget book says the biggest cost increases this year came from tuition for those programs and from raises in staff contracts.

Money that does not come from the town

The town pays $14.6 million. About $3.1 million more comes from other places:

• School choice, $1.15 million. Under the state's school choice program, students from other towns can go to Rockport's schools. Their home towns pay Rockport tuition. Last school year, 144 students came to Rockport this way, and 135 of them are from Gloucester. About 40 Rockport students went to other districts.
• State special education money, $650,000. The state pays back part of the cost of high cost special education. The budget book says that money has covered 30% to 75% of the eligible costs and arrives a year late.
• Savings, $438,335 from the district's school choice reserve.
• Grants, $250,000, and sports and bus fees, $54,000.
• Public works, $558,100, the fuel, power and vehicle costs the town now pays.

The state's Chapter 70 aid goes to the town, not straight to the schools.

Three years of cuts

This year's budget was easier than the last three. "In FY24, FY25, and FY26, we reduced our budget by $343K, $1 million, and $1.4 million respectively, and reduced staffing by 32 positions," the budget book says.

Last year's cuts alone removed 16 positions, including eight teachers, six aides, a middle school assistant principal and the elementary school's assistant principal job.

This year there is no list of cuts. A few jobs shifted. The elementary school added a math acceleration specialist. The middle high school brought back an office clerk. A new special education leader now oversees preschool to grade 12. The district also opened a second classroom for its Intensive Learning Program, using staff it already had.

School by school

Rockport has two schools on one campus on Jerden's Lane: Rockport Elementary School, for preschool to grade 5, and Rockport Middle High School, for grades 6 to 12. The chart below shows each school's budget, how many students go there and how students did on the state's MCAS tests last spring.

MCAS is the test Massachusetts students take each spring. The scores show the share of students who "met" or "exceeded" expectations. That means they showed they know the material for their grade.

Below average is not failing

MCAS sorts students into four levels: exceeding expectations, meeting expectations, partially meeting expectations and not meeting expectations. "Meeting expectations" is a high bar. It means a student is fully on track for their grade. A student who is "partially meeting" is still learning the material. That is not a failing grade.

An average is a middle point. Every year, many schools land below the state average and many land above it. Being below the average does not make a school a failing school. The numbers show where students are doing well and where they may need more help.

In spring 2026, Rockport Elementary was about even with the state in reading, 40% compared with 39% for the same grades statewide, and was close in math. At the middle high school, grade 10 students beat the state in reading, 53% compared with 45%. In grades 6 to 8, Rockport was below the state in reading and math but above it in science.

Test scores depend on many things, not just money. In Rockport, 22.7% of students have disabilities. The state average is 21.1%. Small schools can also swing a lot from year to year, because a few students change the percentages.

How many students graduate

Rockport's class of 2025 had 46 students. Of those, 91.3% graduated in four years. Another 2.2% earned a high school equivalency diploma and 6.5% dropped out. Statewide, 89.3% graduated in four years. In a class this small, three students make a difference of about 6.5 points.

Spending per student

Rockport spends more per student than any other Cape Ann district. In 2024, the latest year the state has posted, it spent $28,232 per student in its own schools. The state average was $22,414. Small districts often cost more per student, because some costs, like running a building or a principal's office, are the same no matter how many students there are.

How do test scores compare across Cape Ann? In spring 2026, 37% of Rockport students in grades 3 to 8 met or beat expectations in reading. In Manchester Essex it was 60%, in Gloucester 34% and statewide 40%.

Spending more per student does not always mean higher scores. Many things shape test results, including how many students have disabilities, come from low income families or are learning English.

Since the budget passed

The district reports on its spending at regular School Committee meetings. In a May 6 update covering spending through March, special education tuition was running about $191,000 under budget, special education busing was about $69,000 over, and unplanned projects and equipment cost about $206,000. At the Oct. 7 School Committee meeting, the district said it spent all the money the town gave it for fiscal 2026 and did not use the town's special education reserve fund, for the second year in a row. It ended the year on June 30 with $2.9 million in its two restricted accounts, state special education aid and school choice tuition. Read about the Oct. 7 meeting.

The district is also negotiating a new contract with the Rockport Teachers Association. Over the past school year, six staff members retired and nine resigned.

Warning signs for next year

• Fewer students. A study in the budget book projects 45 fewer students in grades K to 5 and 73 fewer in grades 6 to 12 over the next three years. Births in Rockport are falling too.
• Relying on school choice. About 23% of students come from other towns. If fewer choose Rockport, tuition money drops.
• Less special education money. The district budgeted $650,000 in state special education money this year, down from $856,680 in fiscal 2025.
• Health insurance. The town's health benefits costs are budgeted to rise 10.89% this year, the Finance Committee said.
• Old buildings. The elementary school opened in 1953 and the middle and high school campus in 1962. This year's town budget includes $100,000 for a study of the school buildings, and the state gave $100,000 toward replacing part of the middle high school roof.

Why your voice matters

The school budget is made in public. The School Committee holds its meetings in the open, and anyone can sign up to speak. At the budget hearing last February, no one from the public spoke. You do not need to be an expert. You can ask a question, share what you see at your child's school or say what matters most to you. The best time to speak is early, before the vote in February.

What comes next

Next meetings: The School Committee meets Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m., and Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m., according to the district's posted calendar. Check the agenda on the district website for the place. At its Oct. 21 meeting the committee heard that enrollment is 29 students above projection. Read about the Oct. 21 meeting.

Work on next year's budget, for fiscal 2028, starts this fall. The road map below is based on last year's steps and the committee's posted meeting dates.

How to speak up: Sign in at the start of a School Committee meeting to speak during public comment. Each speaker gets three minutes. You can also email the committee at [email protected]. Committee members are Chair Amy Oaks, Vice Chair Mark Lorenz, Nicole Altieri, Jessica Delisi and Tammie Titelbaum. Superintendent Mark Branco leads the district.

How we checked this

Budget numbers come from Rockport Public Schools' fiscal 2027 budget book and the town's April 11 voters booklet. The state minimum, spending per student, test scores, student groups and graduation rates come from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. We checked the test scores against the state's live data. Building years come from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. We did not adjust any dollars for inflation. We checked every figure on Oct. 5, 2026.

Earlier coverage: Rockport's town budget, line by line (Oct. 20). Our Rockport water story (Oct. 4).