School officials warn loss of federal grants would sharply increase town budget request; special-education and Title I supports singled out

Falmouth Public Schools finance and operations leaders told the School Committee on March 11 that federal grants now at risk in Washington represent a significant portion of the district budget and that cuts would substantially raise the district—s town funding request for fiscal 2026.

"We have roughly $1,630,000 in grants, today," Paul (Finance Director) said, adding that if those grants were eliminated the district—s budget request would increase from about 5.5% to roughly 8.3%. Paul and other administrators urged the committee and the public to consider how reductions would affect services for multilingual learners, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students.

Why it matters: School officials said the at-risk federal dollars underwrite a range of services that are embedded in classroom instruction and support, not stand-alone programs that can simply be cut without changing how the district operates. Administrators and teachers said that loss of the grants would affect staff coaching, summer programs, out-of-district tuition offsets and specialized services.

Details from the presentation: Paul summarized the district—s student populations and the grants tied to them. Multilingual learners make up about 7.8% of the student body (up from about 4.4% in FY20); the district receives a Title III federal grant in the low tens of thousands and supplements that locally. Students with disabilities comprise roughly 24% of the district—s enrollment, up from about 18%; special-education grants (IDEA) provide a major offset for out-of-district tuition. Economically disadvantaged students now represent roughly 41.2% of enrollment, and Title I supports reading coaches and schoolwide reading instruction across five schools. The district also receives Perkins funding to support career and technical education.

Paul described the district—s approach to a recent spike in out-of-district special-education tuition: the budget began the year with a projected $2.8 million in tuition but required a revision upward to about $3.4 million after late student placements and needs emerged. To cover the current-year increase the district drew on stabilization funds and planned a request to town meeting for a further draw in April; even after those steps officials project a shortfall of about $258,000 for the next fiscal year unless additional state relief arrives.

Circuit-breaker timing explained: Paul outlined the state—s circuit-breaker reimbursement timing and an unusual provision. If out-of-district tuition rises more than 25% the state may accelerate some reimbursement into the current year, but that only shifts cash timing; the overall obligation remains. The district will not know whether it receives accelerated aid until May, he said.

CPAC and special-education context: Sandy Capstanvelas, Director of Student Services, delivered the annual Special Education Parent Advisory Council update (CPAC). She described parent workshops, IEP-related supports and planned family-learning events. Sandy and committee members stressed the role of federal IDEA and related grants in funding contracted services, assistive technology, professional development and early-childhood special-education staffing.

Administration statement on DEI and state guidance: Laurie (superintendent) read excerpts of a recent Commonwealth memo and reaffirmed the district—s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in schools. Several administrators and teachers described DEI work as integrated across instruction, student supports and extracurriculars.

What officials said about contingency planning: Committee members asked whether the district had contingency plans if federal grants are cut. Laurie and Paul said the finance office had modeled cuts and discussed scenarios with the town and finance committee, and that most of the district budget (about 84%–85%) is staffing. "The only place that we would be able to make up that difference would be through our staffing," one administrator said, adding that the kinds of reductions required would significantly change program offerings and class sizes.

CPPI (early childhood) grant and records questions: Paul also reviewed the district—s recent application for a phased EEC CPPI (early-childhood partnership) grant. He said the district applied with two community partners and that the application was denied. Paul addressed public concern over records requests tied to the grant: he said an initial, incomplete draft workbook had accidentally been supplied in response to a records request while the correct workbook had been submitted to the EEC as the official application. He told the committee the EEC received the correct materials and that no CPPI funds were awarded to Falmouth under that application.

Next steps: Administrators said they will continue to brief town meeting members and the finance committee, pursue any eligible state relief, and update the School Committee when the state circuit-breaker decision is known in May. Several committee members urged clear public communications about which school services depend on federal grants.

Ending: School leaders asked residents to consider how grant reductions would affect specific services such as the Summer Language Academy, reading coaches, vocational programs, contracted therapies and out-of-district placements, all of which Paul described as heavily grant-supported.