School administrators presented a proposed FY26 school budget they described as “status-quo” with no new programming but with several unavoidable cost pressures, principally high-school tuition and special education, and outlined measures to lower an initial near‑9% increase to under 5%.

Presenter (school administration) said the starting draft reflected enrollment-driven tuition increases tied to a larger 8th‑grade cohort and that the board had sharpened the draft in work sessions to reduce the increase to “under 5%” through line‑by‑line cuts, including eliminating three positions and using trust‑fund offsets.

Tamara Halley, identified in the meeting as principal of Freeman Central (first referenced SEG 903), highlighted operational impacts tied to community sheltering and McKinney‑Vento obligations, warning that transportation costs for students in shelters have been significant and must be absorbed under federal law.

Board members and taxpayers asked for more detail on the tuition trust fund and enrollment projections; administrators said the current plan reduces assumed high‑school tuition enrollment by eight students (a projected savings of about $200,000) and that the tuition trust remains the anticipated backstop if more students attend the regional high school than budgeted.

Administrators also described health‑insurance changes: the district will receive plan‑specific actuals in October instead of a guaranteed maximum, producing a roughly 3.3% overall health cost increase and removing the prior source of unreserved fund balance used for year‑end items.

What’s next: Selectmen voted to advance the school budget for public hearing. The board asked administrators for written clarifications of trust‑fund balances, tuition assumptions and estimated worst‑case exposure for special education costs before final adoption.