Canton school committee holds public budget hearing, approves FY26 operating budget and opts out of school choice

The Canton School Committee on March 13 held a public budget hearing and voted to forward a bottom-line operating budget for fiscal year 2026 to the town, after more than an hour of public comment and detailed staff discussion about special-education costs and revenue assumptions.

The hearing drew several Canton teachers who urged the committee to seek a budget large enough to reduce class sizes and special-education caseloads. “One of the most effective ways to ensure high quality education is to reduce class sizes and caseloads for service providers,” said Amanda Capozzi, a fourth-grade teacher at Hanson School, during public comment. Heather Lazaro, a health teacher at Luce School, described handling “25 and at times 26 kids at once” in specials and said larger groups reduce what specialists can offer students.

Why it matters: The committee’s bottom-line number will go to the town’s finance process (Fincom and town meeting). Staff said several statewide and federal funding streams—most notably Massachusetts’s special-education “circuit breaker” reimbursement and federal IDEA grants—are materially uncertain and could affect final school financing after the committee’s vote.

During the public hearing the district’s finance staff described how they built the proposed budget. “The proposed amount for this line item is reflective of what our…