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Superintendent warns FY27 budget will far exceed town guidance as special-education costs surge
Summary
The districts'revised preliminary FY27 budget is $33.08 million (a 10.31% increase). Administration attributed almost half the increase to special-education drivers and presented scenarios that would require significant FTE reductions to meet town guidance of 3%–5%.
Superintendent Greg Martineau told the combined committee on Dec. 3 that the revised preliminary FY27 budget totals $33,082,680, a 10.31% increase over FY26 driven largely by special-education costs.
Martineau said staff identified $430,927 in nonprogrammatic reductions (instructional materials, leases, curriculum delayed or moved to grants) but that three special-education line items accounted for roughly 46.6% of the $3,092,738 increase: special-education transportation (+$311,915), out-of-district tuition (+$724,686) and collaborative tuition (+$403,664). “We're seeing a significant increase in out-of-district tuitions,” he said, attributing the trend to increased student needs.
Administration presented two scenarios for aligning with town budget guidance: a 5% increase would require finding roughly $533,000 in offsets and reducing about 8.9 FTEs, while meeting the town's 3% target would require roughly $2.2 million in offsets (including using $300,000 in circuit-breaker reimbursement) and cutting approximately 14.9 FTEs. Martineau called those reductions “daunting,” stressing the tension between fiscal responsibility and the district's legal obligations to educate students with specialized needs.
Staff proposed creating a special-education stabilization fund and recommended the committee consider asking Town Meeting to establish and seed such a fund to smooth year-to-year cost volatility. Administrators said the stabilization fund could be established through an article at Town Meeting and later funded via operating-budget allocations if the committee and town choose to do so.
Committee members pressed for more detail on the reductions that would be required and asked administration to provide clearer options and the likely programmatic effects if the town requires a 3% or 5% ceiling.
Administration said it will continue to work with town finance officials on budget scenarios and return with a recommended FY27 budget timeline and a more detailed package of options.
