A presenter for North Attleborough Public Schools told the town council the district’s rising out-of-district special-education tuition and contract-mandated salary increases are the primary drivers of pressure on the district’s FY2027 budget.

"It's a gift," the presenter said of the early opportunity to brief the council, and added that the district educates "just shy of 4,000 students" and serves "2,600 plus families every day." The presenter described the district as "the largest business in town" and said it operates nine school and administrative facilities totaling about 640,000 square feet.

Why it matters: The district reported it spends well below the state average per student and is "nineteenth from the bottom in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," a comparison the presenter used to underline constrained local spending despite growing needs.

Special education: The presenter told the council that the district’s special-education out-of-district tuition costs have increased by $1,570,000 over the last three years, a 49% rise. The district projects an FY2027 out-of-district tuition budget of $4.5 million. The presenter said the district serves approximately 912 special-education students and noted that costs for individual out-of-district placements range "from 70,000 to 472,000" per student in a year.

Labor costs: The presenter said a 4% budget increase would have only "barely maintained our existing obligations." Under existing collective bargaining agreements, salary increases for current employees cost roughly $2,000,000 a year, the presenter said.

Fund restrictions and spending flexibility: The presenter cautioned that current balances that may appear on paper are not ‘‘usable funds’’ because many school revolving accounts have legal or purpose-specific spending restrictions — for example, high school parking fees cannot be reallocated to pay for instructional staff.

Requests and next steps: The presenter said the district will request new positions aimed at addressing long-deferred, underfunded categories of spending and emphasized these are not "add-ons" or pilot programs but essential operations "to running a public school in 2026." No formal vote or council action was recorded in the transcript of this presentation.

Quotes and source notes: All quotes above are from the presentation recorded in the meeting transcript and attributed to an unidentified presenter representing North Attleborough Public Schools. The transcript contains several apparent transcription errors in place names (e.g., "North Ottawa" and "North Elk"); this article uses the verified district name, North Attleborough Public Schools, consistent with the jurisdictional record provided to the assistant.

What’s next: The district indicated it will include requests for positions and related budget details in its formal submission; the transcript does not record a council response, vote, or timetable for action.