Grafton begins FY27 budget planning; quarter‑one update adds Chapter 70 funds to special‑education tuition line

At the Oct. 7 Grafton School Committee meeting, Kathleen Lungarini, finance director for Grafton Public Schools, said the district has begun developing the fiscal year 2027 budget using a "performance‑based budgeting" approach and will meet with principals and department heads to review historical spending and prioritize funding. Lungarini said the FY27 process will proceed on the timeline previously presented and that the district plans to prepare the full budget for committee presentation rather than piecemeal public presentations. "We are underway," she told committee members, explaining that each school and department will review what is working and what can be trimmed. Turning to the fiscal year 2026 quarter‑one report (July 1–Sept. 30), Lungarini said the packet presented a simplified summary: total salary spending in quarter one was about $5.2 million and non‑salary…