Stoughton school leaders cite $3.47M FY27 shortfall as special-education costs and enrollments rise

Stoughton Public Schools Superintendent Baietta told the school committee at a Dec. 16 public hearing that rising special-education needs, higher transportation costs and enrollment shifts have produced a projected $3,467,142 shortfall in the district’s proposed FY27 budget.

Baietta said the district’s recommended budget represents an increase above the town manager’s 3.5% guidance and that key drivers are mandated special-education services and out-of-district placements, which have grown from 38 students in FY24 to at least 71 as of Dec. 16. He said shelter enrollments earlier in the year produced temporary student counts and warned the state foundation formula could treat those students as a drop in enrollment, reducing state aid even though the district provided the education.

The superintendent described several specific special-education additions in the FY27 draft: two classrooms and four paraprofessionals moving into middle-school programs, two inclusion teachers to address increased inclusion needs, a secondary reading specialist, more speech-language assistance and potential registered behavior technician positions (currently funded via contract services). He emphasized the fiscal impact of tuition and transportation for out-of-district placements, and said staff will provide a line-item breakdown of those costs (tuition, days, per-day costs, transportation) without student-identifying details.

Committee members asked for greater transparency about the contracted-services line. Staff said ArcSED appears under the HR budget and that a one-time Lytics purchase is not included in FY27 unless the committee decides otherwise. The business office agreed to produce an Excel/PDF extract from Munis after Jan. 1 that lists contracted vendors and totals by vendor, while warning that manually classifying every vendor by service type would require additional effort.

Baietta said the town provides roughly $31–32 million locally and the Commonwealth contributes about $40 million under Chapter 70/Student Opportunity Act funding, but he stressed those state figures for FY27 will not be final until House 1 and subsequent conference actions. He urged patience and recommended the committee vote the proposed budget to meet filing deadlines and then reconvene in January when state numbers are released to develop a prioritized master list of potential cuts or adjustments.

On a motion by Armando and seconded by Jillian, the committee voted to forward the proposed budget so the district could file required materials by Dec. 31. Staff and the committee agreed to return in January to review finalized state aid estimates and to begin line-by-line discussions about where cuts would fall if the shortfall remains. Baietta warned that, if cuts are necessary, they are likely to affect general-education programs and positions rather than federally mandated special-education services.

The hearing closed at 6:30 p.m. for public comment and the committee adjourned at 7:20 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Jan. 13 at 6 p.m.