Budget Constraints Loom as East Bridgewater Schools Plan for FY26
Loss of ability to prepay tuitions and rising special education costs expected to impact upcoming budget; committee explores new school building options
EAST BRIDGEWATER - January 21 - The East Bridgewater School Committee tackled pressing budget issues and reviewed potential plans for a new Central School building during its January 21 meeting.
Business Manager John Shea outlined the district's financial situation, highlighting concerns about special education costs. Smith projected a tight budget for the current fiscal year, with an estimated $125,673 remaining in the salary budget and $385,923 in non-salary expenses.
"We're in the middle of January. We still have five more months to go of school. So it's pretty tight," Shea said.
Special education expenses are expected to exceed the budgeted amount by $1.7 million. However, Shea noted this deficit could be offset by about $1.9 million in circuit breaker reimbursements and relief funds.
Looking ahead to the next fiscal year, Shea warned of challenges in funding special education and out-of-district tuition costs. The district will no longer be able to prepay tuitions as it has in recent years.
"It will result in asking for more money in our budget to cover those costs," Shea said.
The committee discussed potential ways to reduce special education spending, with Director of Special Education John Phelan suggesting the district could build more in-house programs.
"Having the number of kids that we have, some of our out-of-district expenses this year came from also students who move in, increases in those costs, increases in those programs," Phelan said.
In other business, architects presented preliminary designs for a potential new Central School building. Gene Raymond of Raymond Design Associates outlined 11 options being considered, including renovating the existing school or constructing a new building on different sites.
"We're kind of down to Central School, maybe doing an addition renovation. Maybe building out behind Central School on one of the softball fields. Or looking at Leland Farm, which is a big site and it's viable," Raymond said.
The committee must decide whether to pursue a pre-K to grade 2 or pre-K to grade 3 configuration. A pre-K to grade 3 option would involve moving 7th grade to the Mitchell School.
Preliminary cost estimates range from $149 million to $152 million, depending on the option chosen. Raymond stressed these figures are for comparison purposes only and will likely change as designs are refined.
The district is working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to secure grant funding for the project. Raymond said the next steps include selecting a preferred option and submitting a report to the MSBA within the next two months.
Committee members expressed interest in holding additional public forums to gather community input on the school building plans.
In other action, the committee:
- Approved a new $300 scholarship for high school seniors passionate about writing, funded by local author Rhonda DeChambeau.
- Reviewed updates to several district policies, including those on curriculum development, remote learning, and student progress reports.
- Voted to retain a third-party investigator for an unspecified personnel matter.
The committee will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. A vote to certify the final budget is scheduled for the March 18 meeting.