Grafton officials warn FY27 will be strained as special-education costs top circuit-breaker reimbursements

School district leaders told the school committee on Nov. 4 that rising special-education tuition and transportation are the biggest budget pressures going into FY27 and that state reimbursements will not fully cover anticipated costs.

Jay, speaking for district administration, said about 34 students currently require out-of-district placements and described a wide range of per-student tuition: collaborative placements around $50,000—$90,000 annually, private day tuition roughly $67,000—186,000 and residential placements from $172,000 up to $405,000.

Jay explained the state's circuit-breaker reimbursement in plain terms: costs above a threshold tied to four times the state's average foundation budget (about $64,000 per student) are eligible for partial reimbursement and, "If circuit breaker is fully funded, we can apply for 75% of that 36,000," he said, using a $100,000 tuition example to show how reimbursements work.

Committee members reviewed the district's spreadsheet and numbers. One member stated the district's available circuit-breaker reimbursement was $2,650,000 while total anticipated special-education costs were estimated at about $4.4 million, leaving a substantial shortfall. Jay and staff acknowledged the uncertainty and agreed to re-check the spreadsheet math and return with clarified totals.

The administration noted some mitigating items: tuition-in students brought in roughly $500,000 so far (7 students) and that figure is expected to rise as the district adds students. The district also reported roughly $236,000 in existing carryover in a circuit-breaker reserve account but said a healthy target reserve would be nearer $1.5 million.

Jay outlined next steps: share the FY26/FY27 workbooks and memos with committee members, continue monitoring FY26 costs, consider using $300,000 of incoming tuition revenue to cover therapeutic costs and potentially apply for extraordinary relief from the state in January (a limited, competitive pool) to help offset sharp year-over-year increases.

Committee members pressed for transparency in the supporting documents and asked for clearer line-item descriptions in the budget book to help the public understand one-time versus ongoing costs. Jay agreed to provide documentation and to review the spreadsheet calculations the next day.

The administration framed special education and transportation as structurally volatile budget items and warned the committee that, even after applying circuit-breaker funds and carryover, FY27 could show a negative carryover unless additional offsets are found.