Lakeville-Freetown panel adopts $38.4 million FY2019 budget, includes $250,000 special-education stabilization allocation

The Lakeville-Freetown Regional School Committee voted to adopt a $38,398,474 fiscal 2019 operating budget on April 1, approving a plan that includes a $250,000 allocation for a special-education stabilization fund and the committee-led proposal to add $375,000 in school-choice revenue to the operating budget to help rebuild year-end reserves.

Superintendent Rick Medeiros presented the budget and framed it as a reflection of the district's priorities. "A budget's a reflection of our priorities," Medeiros said during the district's public hearing, noting the presentation responded to previously raised concerns while adding a stabilization measure aimed at the district's volatile special-education costs.

The budget as approved represents a 2.61 percent increase in total spending over FY2018; committee members noted that, if the committee's motion to shift school-choice revenue into the operating budget is included, the effective spending increase rises to about 3.55 percent. The package approved…