District overview
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School District
How Martha's Vineyard Regional High School is governed, funded, and what it's building next.
Who governs this school, and how does it connect to the island's other schools?
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School is its own school district under state and federal records (NCES LEA 2507380), separate from the island's elementary districts. It has one school, serves grades 9-12 only, and is governed by its own School Committee. That committee's nine members are appointed, not directly elected: two each from Tisbury, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, appointed annually by those towns' own elementary school committees, and one each from Chilmark, Aquinnah and West Tisbury, appointed by their town's Select Board. A separate office, Martha's Vineyard Public Schools, provides one shared superintendent for the high school and for the island's elementary districts, but each keeps its own committee and its own budget. The All-Island School Committee is a separate coordinating body across all six towns' schools, not a merger of the individual committees.
A single-school regional district
The district's only school is Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in Oak Bluffs, serving grades 9-12 for all six Vineyard towns.
Nine members, zero directly elected by voters
Members are appointed by their town's elementary school committee (Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, two seats each) or Select Board (Chilmark, Aquinnah, West Tisbury, one seat each), not chosen on a ballot.
One superintendent, six school committees
Martha's Vineyard Public Schools (mvyps.org) is the shared superintendent's office for MVRHS and the elementary districts of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, and the Up-Island Regional School District (Aquinnah, Chilmark, West Tisbury). Each district keeps its own committee and budget.
Big spending decisions still go to the towns
Routine operating costs are billed to the six towns every year using a state-defined formula tied to enrollment and required local contributions. The largest capital decisions, like a new building, require a district-wide vote of residents in all six towns.
Appointment rather than direct election doesn't mean residents have no say: the committee's biggest financial decisions, including the current building project, still require a district-wide vote open to every registered voter on the island.
Where the district stands
A 5.17% increase over FY26, certified after cuts from a 7.5% increase first proposed at the public hearing.
A 7% increase over FY26, down from an 11% increase first proposed at the public hearing.
Ceiling amount; reduced by whatever MSBA grant the project receives. Subject to a June 2, 2026 island-wide vote.
All nine seats are filled by appointment from town elementary school committees or Select Boards, not by a district-wide ballot for this committee specifically.
Context, not from a collected district source. The most recent enrollment figure the district cited directly in collected minutes was a per-town count used in the assessment formula, without a stated districtwide total.
Context: the FY27 operating budget ($30,275,376) divided by the 2022 NCES enrollment count (769). Both figures are verified individually; the division is our calculation, not a district-reported number, and the enrollment year does not match the budget year.
Major projects
New high school building project
In the state MSBA design/funding process; committee voted to borrow up to $333,490,457 pending a June 2, 2026 island-wide vote; by June 22, 2026 the committee had voted to sign MSBA's Project Funding AgreementA state-backed rebuild of the high school (plus rehabilitation of the running track and grass fields), moving through MSBA design review toward a district-wide borrowing vote.
- MSBA approves the district's preferred schematic design; building capped at 199,900 sq ft
- Committee selects W.T. Rich-Shawmut as construction manager
- Schematic design report submitted to MSBA
- Committee authorizes borrowing up to $333,490,457 and sets June 2 election
- Committee authorizes signing MSBA's Project Scope and Budget Agreement
- Scheduled island-wide voter referendum on the borrowing (outcome not in the collected record)
- Committee votes to enter MSBA's Project Funding Agreement
Funding
Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) grant plus district borrowing, apportioned to the six member towns
Bus driver and monitor pay overhaul
Adopted; new hourly-pay contract effective April 10, 2026 payrollA multi-year renegotiation moving transportation staff from per-run to hourly pay, meant to fix a chronic driver shortage behind this year's late bus routes.
- Committee approves an interim 5% raise while hourly-pay negotiations continue
- Draft 2026-2028 contract reviewed, including a roughly $47,000 'make whole' provision for CDL drivers
- Contract ratified, effective April 10, 2026
Funding
District transportation operating budget, up roughly 7% for FY27
Leadership transition: principal and superintendent
Principal search complete; superintendent search outcome not established in the collected recordBoth the high school principal and the shared superintendent are turning over for the 2026-27 school year, with searches for each running at the same time.
- Superintendent announces the principal's one-year agreement will not be renewed and a search begins
- Two finalists, Dennis Mahoney and Bryan Lombardi, visit the school
- Bryan Lombardi introduced as incoming principal, starting July 1, 2026
- Minutes reference an incoming new superintendent and assistant superintendent for 2026-27, without naming them
Funding
Not applicable
Recent alerts by topic
This page is built from School Committee, Budget, Transportation, Athletics, Facilities, and Joint School/Building Committee minutes posted by the shared superintendent's office (mvyps.org) for the 12 months from August 2025 through August 2026, plus the district's currently posted regional agreement.
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