Marblehead Public Schools leaders told the School Committee that special‑education costs have risen sharply this year and will shape both final FY25 results and FY26 budget planning.

At a committee meeting held as a livestream, district finance staff reported “approximately $1,000,000 in tuitions over and approximately another $100,000 in transportation over what was planned,” and said a $900,000 prepayment reduced the immediate shortfall to roughly $200,000. The district’s special‑education line was budgeted at about $2.3 million and staff said they now expect total spending to come in near $3.3 million for the year, a roughly 43% increase on the original line.

The expected jump in special‑education costs — staff repeatedly emphasized out‑of‑district tuition and newly identified placements as drivers — was the central focus of the fiscal update. “We prepaid $900,000. So we are Delta right now of $200,000,” the district finance staff said when summarizing the net effect of prepayments and overruns.

Why it matters: Special‑education spending is one of the largest and least predictable local K‑12 budget items. The committee heard that improved case tracking, encumbrance of transportation and tuition obligations, and direct work by student‑services staff should reduce surprise costs but that the district needs to plan for higher baseline spending next year.

Munis rollout and reporting improvements

Finance staff outlined a phased rollout of the district’s new enterprise resource planning software (Munis). Staff said general‑ledger and accounting modules are scheduled to go live July 1, 2025, and payroll and human‑resources modules are slated for January 1, 2026. Staff noted the current manual encumbrance practices for payroll are time‑consuming and that the Munis implementation is intended to reduce manual work and make routine financial reports faster to produce.

Capital and ARPA‑funded projects

Staff reported they have encumbered work that depends on town ARPA funds and have agreements with vendors that make contracts void if ARPA dollars do not materialize. The planned ARPA projects discussed included playground resurfacing at Glover School (described as the first priority) and the Village playground (secondary), along with replacement classroom clock systems at Marblehead High School and small classroom technology upgrades. Town capital reserves were mentioned as a fallback if ARPA funding is unavailable.

Legal and strike‑related costs

Committee members pressed finance staff for detail on a larger‑than‑usual legal line. Staff said part of the increase reflects arbitration and legal fees related to the recent strike, police details and payroll processing costs during strike days, and that some of those traditionally chargeable back to unions were not recoverable because of the unions’ financial position at the time. The district has created a separate budget line for strike‑related costs and has so far attributed about $11,000 to that line while invoices are still being collected.

Enrollment, staffing and the accountability report

Administrators showed enrollment projections and noted a recent month‑to‑month decline of 22 students in the district’s counts; staff said departures included families who cited the strike in outreach to the district. Committee members emphasized the need for a staff accountability report that explains how staffing levels and program mixes map to current enrollments and student needs, while balancing concerns about publishing individual employee data. Staff said the accountability report will focus on program descriptions, staffing levels by program, and district‑wide staffing patterns rather than naming individuals.

Budget calendar and next steps

Committee members and staff discussed a tentative schedule for the FY26 budget process: a budget workshop and meetings with principals and town finance, a public forum to present priorities to the community, a public hearing in early March, and a committee vote later in March (dates were discussed as tentative and staff said some dates may shift depending on town revenue notifications and printing deadlines for public notices). Staff said they will continue monthly monitoring of the FY25 projections, finalize the Munis testing and training plan, and provide more detailed breakout of legal and strike‑related expenses when invoices and reconciliations are complete.

Quotes and sourcing

District finance staff provided the numeric estimates and timeline details during the FY25 budget update portion of the meeting. Committee members asked for follow‑up breakouts of arbitration and strike‑related legal costs and for the staff accountability data that will inform staffing choices next year.

The School Committee did not take formal votes on budget adoption at this meeting; staff distributed draft materials to the committee and scheduled follow‑up subcommittee and public meetings to review the draft FY26 budget.

What’s next

Staff will deliver a more detailed legal/strike cost breakout, continue Munis testing and training, circulate the draft budget books in advance of the budget workshop, and prepare a staff accountability summary for committee review ahead of the public forum and hearings.

Ending: The committee adjourned after completing the FY25 update and discussing the FY26 schedule and accountability reporting work.