Eric, speaking for the School Committee, told the Finance Committee the district is asking for a $53,965,981 operating budget for FY26, a 3.8% increase over the current year.

"We are, asking for a budget of $53,965,981. It's a 3.8% increase," Eric said, introducing the district request before Superintendent Dan Bauer and district staff presented details.

Superintendent Bauer told the committee the budget is intended as "level service" and prioritizes sustaining progress in student services — especially special education — while seeking operational efficiencies. He said settling collective-bargaining agreements in the prior year provided certainty for planning. "The budget process really is year long but really hits hard," Bauer said, describing lengthy internal reviews and audits of programming.

Special education and transportation

The district attributed large budgetary pressure to special-education services and related transportation costs. Bauer described steps to "flatten the curve" of transportation costs, including purchasing vans for in‑district transport and participating in a regionalized transportation consortium. Bauer said the district added two smaller vans to operate in-district special-education runs and planned to hire additional drivers; he said those vehicles and route changes already generated near-term savings.

Pam Crum (district finance staff) explained circuit-breaker reimbursements and a pending supplemental budget at the state level. She told the committee the district is seeking an increase to transportation reimbursement rates in the state supplemental budget and said the district’s anticipated additional reimbursement is roughly $449,000 if the supplemental budget is approved; she explained that FY25 reimbursements were lower than statutory targets because the state prioritized tuition reimbursements first and then funded transportation out of remaining funds.

Other highlights

- The requested budget includes modest position changes and aims to preserve recent investments in special-education programming, including autism-strand and therapeutic cohorts housed at specific elementary schools.
- District leaders said they have pursued grant funding (more than $200,000 in grant-funded allocations cited) to offset operating costs and to support curricular and pathway development at the high school.
- The district reported efforts to regionalize out-of-district transportation and to consolidate routes; bid results for a consortium contract were reported to be coming in with projected savings of 8–10%.

Finance Committee action

A motion to move the school budget was made and seconded. A voice vote followed; the chair recorded the motion as approved with an "Aye" and noted one member absent.

Speakers quoted in this article are Eric (School Committee), Superintendent Dan Bauer and Pam Crum (district finance staff).