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Westford finance director warns of tight FY26 closeout as facilities and special‑education costs bite
Summary
Director of finance Jenny Lynn told the Westford School Committee the district’s $69.4 million FY26 budget is tracking close to full utilization and that a combination of heating/utility spikes, special‑education tuition and transportation costs has produced pressures that could leave a projected FY26 closeout deficit of about $100,000–$150,000 after offsets.
Jenny Lynn, Westford Public Schools’ director of finance, told the School Committee that the district’s FY26 budget is nearly fully used and faces several uncontrollable cost pressures.
“We are getting really close to the full budget usage by the end of the fiscal year,” Lynn said, reporting a system‑wide utilization rate of about 99.1% (which rose to 99.5% at a subsequent run). Lynn said the district’s $69.4 million operating budget has $42.3 million in expenditures and $26.4 million in encumbrances, leaving a projected balance of about $627,000.
Lynn identified five primary pressure points: special‑education out‑of‑district tuition, special‑education contracted services, transportation (including homeless and foster‑care routes), heating and…
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