The South Shore Vocational Technical High School budget for fiscal year 2013 has been approved by the School Committee at $10,941,227 — a 4.8 percent spending increase — by a unanimous 8-0 vote.

No one appeared to speak about the budget at a public hearing session before the vote was taken.

“From here, the budget process enters the next phase where we visit our town finance committees to discuss their town assessments,” Superintendent-Director Thomas Hickey said after the meeting. “These assessment numbers are not calculated yet. We’ll know more after projections from the governor’s budget proposal, which will include critical Chapter 70 state aid figures.”

Voters in six of the eight sending towns — Abington, Cohasset, Hanover, Hanson, Norwell, Rockland, Scituate and Whitman — must ultimately approve their assessments at town meetings.

The Chapter 70 allocation for K-12 education were not expected to be been officially announced until Wednesday, but last week were forecast to be increased by $145 million to the highest funding level in state history at the same time Gov. Deval Patrick was planning to level-fund unrestricted local aid to cities and towns.

The South Shore Vo-Tech School Committee’s vote came after a report regarding the current budget containing a good news-bad news scenario.

There was some good news in the snow removal budget, as the mild winter has reduced snow removal costs by 16 percent so far this year. But that was tempered by the estimate that the transportation cost account is expected to be short in the fiscal 2012 budget by about $40,000.

“With the high cost of gasoline, we are busing more students than we have in the past, in fact we had to add a bus route at the end of last year we didn’t have in the budget, ” said treasurer Robert J.Kelley Jr.

Transportation costs are traditionally refunded the following year, but this year the school received only a 58-percent reimbirsement.

In other businesss, the School Committee also recognized two Abington students as the Students of the Month for their support of electronics classmate Kevin McKenna of Hanson who was diagnosed with leukemia over the summer.

Juniors Max Long and Joseph Ritchie represented their fellow electrical shop students as leaders of the effort to support their classmate, according to Director of Pupil Services Pamela Titus.

“They have devoted hours of their time to lead school-wide and community fundraisers for their classmate Kevin ‘K.C.’ McKenna,” Titus said. “With selflessness and grace these two young men remind us of what community really means.”

The Dana-Farber Jimmy Fund Community Outreach unit held an infomational program at the school in November to explain the illness to the junior class, which McKenna and his parents attended. At the conclusion of that program, Long and Ritchie stood before their classmates “encouraging this community to get involved to support K.C. and his family.”

The fundraisers held so far have included a blood drive, the sale of K.C. Crew wrist bands, which have raised $900 so far, and a school dance.

Electonics shop teacher Todd Hohenleitner was also honored in the Employee Spotlight for his support of the fundraising projects.

Meeting notes

• The school’s cheerleading team was also recognized for its league championship and fifth-place finish at states.

• The Student Council has announced plans to meet with food services about the school lunch programs in an effort to improve them and incorporate menu selections students prefer.

• The School Committee accepted a donation to the Metal Fabrication/Welding Shop of angle iron bar stock valued at about $1,980.