District freezes budget after higher-than-expected school-shelter expenses; reimbursements expected later

District finance staff told the school committee they faced a larger-than-expected FY25 expense tied to operating a shelter that required educating additional students. Finance director Bob explained the district incurred about $344,000 in FY25 related to those students and that a portion of shelter costs is reimbursable by state or federal programs, but timing delays mean the district will receive the money in later fiscal years.

Bob described the sequence: the district spent roughly $76,000 in an earlier year, $70,000 the prior year, and estimates $344,000 in the current fiscal year. Reimbursements for shelter-related transportation are guaranteed, he said, but daily per-student reimbursement (a referenced homeless grant at about $104/day) is governed by a legislative formula and produced a lower-than-expected award this year because of eligibility rules tied to length of stay. Bob said reimbursements generally arrive late, so the district will see the FY25 reimbursements reflected in the town appropriation cycle in FY26 and FY27.

Superintendent Laurie Hunter said she had "formally frozen the budget" to prevent discretionary spending from masking the shortfall and instructed administrators that remaining balances are not to be spent without approval; Bob said the district had carried-over $630,000 in circuit-breaker reserves at the end of FY24 and expected that figure to decline as reimbursements lag. Committee members asked whether shortfalls could be covered temporarily by town free cash; staff said they would look into municipal mechanisms but noted reimbursements are expected and commonly delayed across municipalities.

Committee members asked staff to continue monitoring and to report updates before the FY26 budget is finalized.