Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Select Board approves draw from Special Education Reserve to cover tuition shortfall
Summary
The Select Board unanimously authorized use of the town’s Special Education Reserve Fund to cover a projected out-of-district tuition deficit for Nantucket Public Schools.
The Nantucket Select Board unanimously approved a request on March 19 to use funds from the town’s Special Education Reserve Fund to cover out-of-district special education tuitions.
Martin, representing Nantucket Public Schools, told the board that tuition costs have risen several years after the COVID period and that the district currently has 11 out-of-district students. He said tuitions for those placements range roughly from $109,000 to $322,000 per student and that the district is already facing a roughly $747,000 deficit this fiscal year for tuition costs.
Martin said the district expects a larger state “circuit breaker” reimbursement next year compared with last year’s $540,000, and that the increased reimbursement should help narrow the gap going forward. He told the board the district was seeking to use money from a reserve fund established by Article 32 at the 2018 annual town meeting; that fund’s balance was described in the presentation as $700,000. The presentation identified a remaining balance of approximately $250,000 after the proposed draw, and school committee approval was obtained at its March 18 meeting.
A Select Board member moved to approve the request; the motion was seconded and passed with unanimous “Aye” votes.
The board did not provide additional conditions beyond the standard requirement that expenditures from reserve accounts receive Select Board approval.
