South Coast charter school tuition projected at $86 million, with state reimbursement $2.4 million short of the formula
Fall River carries nearly half of the tuition and the largest gap, about $1 million; statewide the projection leaves districts $28.4 million short and pays nothing toward third-year reimbursements.
SOUTH COAST Updated Friday, Oct. 30, with comment from Old Rochester Superintendent Michael S. Nelson.
South Coast school districts are projected to pay $86 million in charter school tuition this school year, $8.1 million more than last year, while the state is on track to reimburse them $2.4 million less than its own formula calls for, figures from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education show.
Fall River carries the biggest share of both. The city's charter tuition is projected at $40.4 million for 1,858 students, up $4.5 million, or 12.6%, from last year's final bill. The state's projected reimbursement to the city is $7.5 million, about $1.04 million below what the formula would pay in full.
How the money moves
When a student attends a Commonwealth charter school, the state pays the school a tuition amount calculated for the student's home district "to reflect, as much as practicable, the actual per pupil spending amount that would be expended in the district if the students attended the district schools," state law says. The department's figures for what each district owes go to the Department of Revenue for its cherry sheet estimates, the department wrote.
To cushion a district when its charter tuition goes up, the same law has the state reimburse 100% of the increase in the year it happens, 60% the next year and 40% the year after, "subject to appropriation." The state also reimburses the facilities part of tuition, $1,288 a student this year, up from $1,188 last year.
Where the gap comes from
The fiscal 2027 state budget sets aside $200,402,605 for the reimbursements, the same amount the governor, the House and the Senate each proposed. The budget line directs the department to provide "not less than 100 per cent of the total eligible state obligation" this year. When the House Ways and Means Committee proposed the amount in April, it wrote that its budget was "fully funding charter school reimbursement at 100%."
The department's July projection puts reimbursement at full funding at $228,778,857 statewide, which leaves districts $28.4 million short. For a shortfall, the budget line sets the order of payment: first-year tuition for students who came from private or parochial schools or home schooling, tuition for certain siblings, then the facilities part, then the full first-year payment on a tuition increase, and then "the remaining increase reimbursements, beginning with the most recent year."
The department's figures follow that order. Every district gets its full facilities reimbursement and the full first-year payment. Second-year payments are paid at 82.9% of their value in every district, and the third-year payments, $22 million statewide, are not funded at all. Last year the state paid the formula in full, $186.8 million.
Across the South Coast, reimbursements are projected at $15.5 million, down from $15.8 million last year, even as tuition rises $8.1 million. After the reimbursement, the districts' projected cost comes to $70.5 million.
District by district
Most of Fall River's charter students attend the two charter schools based in the city: 1,219 at Atlantis Charter School and 623 at Argosy Collegiate Charter School. The city's reimbursement rises to $7.5 million from $6.6 million last year, but the third-year payment it would have received, $856,731, is not in the projection.
New Bedford's charter tuition is projected at $35.5 million for 1,553 students, up $2.5 million, or 7.6%. Most of those students attend two New Bedford charter schools, 1,036 at Alma del Mar Charter School and 495 at Global Learning Charter Public School. The city's reimbursement is projected at $5.5 million, down from $6 million last year and $696,107 below full funding.
Taunton's tuition is projected at $4 million for 203 students, up 14.3%, with 154 of them at Foxborough Regional Charter School and 31 at New Heights Charter School of Brockton. Its reimbursement of $1.1 million is $251,463 below full funding. Wareham's is $3.7 million for 155 students, up 13.3%; 100 of them attend Rising Tide Charter Public School and 45 attend Map Academy Charter School, both in Plymouth. Wareham's reimbursement falls $287,023 short.
Eleven other South Coast districts send from two to 21 students each, with tuition from about $41,000 in Seekonk to $433,000 in the Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District. Mattapoisett has no charter students this year, but the formula would still pay it $3,915 for an earlier increase; the projection pays it nothing. Berkley, Dighton, Freetown, Lakeville, Marion, Rehoboth and the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District have no charter tuition in the projection.
The Old Rochester Regional School District's tuition is projected at $336,674 for 12 students, up from $316,826 last year, and its reimbursement is $15,267 below full funding. Michael S. Nelson, superintendent of the Old Rochester district and Superintendency Union 55, said in an email Friday: "As school districts continue to face a very challenging financial landscape, every dollar matters more than ever when developing annual budgets. It has become more and more difficult each fiscal year to sustain current levels of programming and resources."
| District | Charter students, FY27 | Tuition, FY26 final | Tuition, FY27 projected | State reimbursement, FY27 | Below full funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet | 3 | $88,183 | $69,621 | $19,598 | $8,157 |
| Dartmouth | 8 | $153,432 | $183,293 | $49,669 | $15,674 |
| Fairhaven | 3 | $31,373 | $61,811 | $31,873 | $2,052 |
| Fall River | 1,858 | $35,879,629 | $40,392,111 | $7,510,244 | $1,043,826 |
| Freetown-Lakeville Regional | 21 | $339,407 | $432,688 | $136,231 | $34,225 |
| Mattapoisett | 0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,915 |
| New Bedford | 1,553 | $33,017,704 | $35,533,559 | $5,515,029 | $696,107 |
| Old Rochester Regional | 12 | $316,826 | $336,674 | $90,654 | $15,267 |
| Rochester | 2 | $44,616 | $47,940 | $18,890 | $4,262 |
| Seekonk | 2 | $36,455 | $40,946 | $7,672 | $135 |
| Somerset | 16 | $335,142 | $361,317 | $83,251 | $19,970 |
| Somerset Berkley Regional | 4 | $157,944 | $99,052 | $32,353 | $10,945 |
| Swansea | 16 | $335,271 | $361,127 | $49,742 | $4,845 |
| Taunton | 203 | $3,530,840 | $4,035,584 | $1,115,788 | $251,463 |
| Wareham | 155 | $3,256,855 | $3,689,570 | $790,802 | $287,023 |
| Westport | 16 | $302,788 | $319,865 | $35,670 | $0 |
Student counts are full-time equivalents. Tuition is the district's local payment, transportation and facilities included. Reimbursement is the state's total for the district, and "below full funding" is the difference between that and the department's figure for full funding.
What happens next
The fiscal 2027 figures are a first-quarter projection with data as of July 9, and monthly payments to charter schools from July through November are based on them, the department wrote. Enrollment from any one district may vary, and each district's tuition rate depends on its own spending and can change, it noted.
South Coast 360 News asked the state education department and the superintendents of eight South Coast school districts for comment on Friday and will add their answers.
Related: SC360's Oct. 29 report on Fall River's $17 million school busing bill, which includes the busing of charter school students.
How to ask about the figures
Questions about the charter tuition and reimbursement figures go to Kim Hunter, the department's charter school program fiscal manager, at Kimberly.Hunter2@mass.gov or 781-338-6511, the department lists. Local questions go to each district's business office.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every figure comes from public records: the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's fiscal 2027 first-quarter charter tuition projection (sending district, charter school and rate summaries, data as of July 9, 2026) and program page, its final fiscal 2026 sending district summary and page, its explainer of charter tuition reimbursements, the fiscal 2027 state budget line for charter school reimbursement, the House Ways and Means Committee's April 15 budget letter, and Mass. General Laws chapter 71, section 89. We read them on Oct. 30. The South Coast totals, the changes from last year, each shortfall, the 82.9% rate and the projected cost after reimbursement are our arithmetic from the department's own numbers. Superintendent Michael S. Nelson's statement is quoted word for word from his Oct. 30 email to South Coast 360 News. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (11)
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Projected FY2027 Commonwealth Charter School Tuition and EnrollmentProgram page dated July 2026, last updated July 15, 2026: $200,402,605 reimbursement appropriation, $1,288 facilities rate, projection caveats, use in the cherry sheet estimates. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: FY2027 Sending District Summary, Quarter 1, projected (data as of July 9, 2026)Sheets "Q1 District Summary" (FTE, local payment, total state reimbursement, reimbursement at full funding, state totals) and "Q1 Raw District Data" (transition reimbursement tiers and the pro rated amount). Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: FY2027 Rate Summary, Quarter 1, projectedSheet "rates": charter school, campus location, sending district and projected FTE. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: FY2027 Charter School Summary, Quarter 1, projectedProjected FTE and total payment for each charter school. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Final FY26 Charter School Tuition and EnrollmentProgram page, last updated June 25, 2026: $1,188 facilities rate. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: FY2026 Sending District Summary, Quarter 4, finalLocal payment, FTE and total state reimbursement by district; state total reimbursement equal to the full funding figure. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Understanding District Aid for Commonwealth Charter School TuitionExplainer dated October 2019 on the 100, 60 and 40 percent transition aid. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts budget: FY2027 General Appropriations Act, line 7061-9010, Charter School ReimbursementEnacted $200,402,605 (same in the governor, House, Senate and conference versions); "not less than 100 per cent of the total eligible state obligation"; payment priorities if the appropriation is insufficient; FY2027 facilities component $1,288; FY2026 GAA $198,988,065. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- House Committee on Ways and Means: FY2027 budget letter to House members, April 15, 2026States the committee budget is "fully funding charter school reimbursement at 100%." Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Mass. General Laws c. 71, s. 89 (charter schools), paragraphs (ff) and (gg)Tuition calculation, facilities reimbursement and the 100, 60 and 40 percent reimbursement, each subject to appropriation. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Old Rochester Regional School District and Superintendency Union 55, Superintendent Michael S. Nelson, email to South Coast 360 NewsOn the record, received 12:38 p.m. Fri. Oct. 30, 2026, in reply to our question on charter school tuition and state reimbursement; statement quoted word for word. Read Oct. 30, 2026.