On Oct. 29, the school committee discussed the main budget drivers for fiscal year 2026: technology, special education, transportation, and curriculum updates.
The conversation followed the town’s second budget summit, in which Superintendent Jill Geiser estimated the school budget would grow between $4.6 million and $6.5 million, not including potential savings from re-allocating expenses.
Town Administrator Patrice Garvin said the multi-year model developed for the fiscal year 2025 override established a base assumption that the school budget would grow by approximately $3.7 million.
Updating Technology
During the Oct. 29 meeting, Director of Finance, Business, and Operations Anthony DiCologero outlined the schools’ needs, including maintaining software programs and replacing equipment (iPads, Chromebooks, teacher computers, and classroom displays).
DiCologero said the yearly inflation of software programs is 6 to 8%.
“These non-negotiable software packages often can crowd out funding available for other initiatives,” he said.
The district is considering making Chromebooks optional for high school students to help curb technology costs.
“There were a number of students in the past who opted to provide their own devices,” he said.
Additionally, the schools are considering reducing the number of servers from four to two, using federal funds from the Technology Asset Renewal Program (TARP) to replace them.
Geiser said developing a multi-year model would help examine ongoing costs and one-time fees in preparation for upcoming budget conversations.
“We might need to prioritize some things over other things, so it would be helpful to think about everything as far out as is feasible,” she said.
Geiser added that technology and curriculum have historically been neglected because the state does not mandate spending on those items.
Navigating Special Education Needs
Geiser said special education is a major budget driver.
According to DiCologero, the number of out-of-district special education placements is currently stable, but this could change and impact the budget.
However, state money, “circuit breaker funds” that reimburse certain special education expenses, should enable the district to break even on tuition costs for fiscal year 2025, he said.
Special education contract services also contribute to the district’s expenses because it is more expensive to pay contractors than district staff, he said.
“Last year, special education contract expenses exceeded the budget, in part due to unfilled positions,” said DiCologero. “We expect these expenses will continue to be a budget driver.”
Geiser said the district has filled all but one special education position.
School Committee member Matthew Kraft asked Geiser what the district could do differently to prevent turnover in these positions.
Geiser responded that research is being done into why special education staff are leaving the district.
“Special education is certainly the area that is being felt across communities and across districts,” she said. “We need stronger pipelines across the board to fill these positions … Our pools are quite a bit less than they used to be, so it’s a real issue.”
Transporting Students
In fiscal year 2024, the cost of special education transportation was approximately $2.4 million, compared to the $1.8 million budget, DiCologero said.
“In the event that fiscal year 2025 expenses will be similar to fiscal year 2024, a portion of special education transportation expenses can be charged to the fiscal year 2025 circuit breaker allotment,” he added.
According to DiCologero, the cost of the district-wide bus fleet is also rising; the contract rates for five additional buses in fiscal year 2025 were 9% higher than for the existing 10 buses, and the rates for all 15 buses will increase by approximately 5% in fiscal year 2026.
Although there is a revolving fund for transportation, he predicted the district will have to rely on the general fund, because the revolving fund is estimated to hold only a $30,000 surplus by the end of fiscal year 2025.
He said the district is working with a transportation coordinator to find ways to reduce costs.
Updating Curriculums
Assistant Superintendent Lucia Sullivan presented the district’s curriculum needs, including updating math curriculums for kindergarten, first, and fourth grades; maintaining math curriculums for fifth and sixth grades; replacing textbooks for advanced placement (AP) classes; adding texts for large English classes; and piloting math curriculums for seventh and ninth grades.
Sullivan estimated these fiscal year 2026 curriculum needs would cost $337,400.
“It is important to note that lack of investment has led to a significant backlog,” she said, adding that the materials for many subjects are more than 10 years old.
The district has also been behind on adopting some high quality instructional materials (HQIM), said Sullivan, resulting in the schools being ineligible for certain grants that could fund professional development, implementation, and coaching.
“We would really like to try to create a multi-year package and work with the town to identify one-time funds because we have a lot of urgent needs,” she said.
Educational materials have also changed significantly, according to Sullivan.
“A lot of them are digital,” she said. “You know, you could buy a book and tape it together and make it last a really long time, but the day your curriculum expires, the program goes dark [and] you cannot log in…so everything has that additional component now.”
More information on the district’s budget drivers and curriculum needs can be found on the school committee website.