Grafton school committee approves $47.85 million FY26 budget after public hearing; outlines $809,000 "middle ground" reductions and new tuition plan

Grafton Public Schools’ school committee voted to approve a $47,846,071 operating budget for fiscal year 2026 after a public-budget hearing and discussion of alternate reduction scenarios.

Dr. James Cummings, superintendent of Grafton Public Schools, told the committee that the full “level service” FY26 budget includes contractual increases, five new teaching positions, higher transportation costs and an 11% planning assumption for transportation. Cummings said a novel revenue idea — expanding a medically fragile secondary program to accept tuitioned students from other districts — is expected to reduce district salary needs by about $200,000.

Why it matters: The approved spending plan continues a multi‑year pattern in which the town must choose between maintaining “level service” for schools or reducing programs and positions. Committee discussion emphasized that special-education tuition increases, staffing costs and substitutes are the largest drivers of the gap between revenues and expenses.

The approved figure is an increase over the current year; Cummings summarized key cost drivers as the five new positions, a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment plus steps and lanes in contracts, increased special-education tuition, higher substitute costs and technology investments. He said those five drivers “make up about 97% of our overall increase.”

Public hearing and comment

Only a handful of people used the public-hearing period. Dan Gasper, a Grafton resident who…