PEMBROKE — September 22, 2026 — Parent Natalie Sacco told the School Committee that her profoundly autistic son was shut out of a YMCA after-school program run on school grounds, that she was told to hire and pay for an aide herself, and that two escalation emails went unanswered. Superintendent Erin Obey and member Katrina Delaney said they had no record of them.
The Full Story
Parent Natalie Sacco used the public comment period to read a prepared statement into the official public record, describing what she called a documented failure of civil rights compliance, student safety and fiscal accountability in the district.
She said the matter began over the summer with an inquiry to the district’s special education director, seeking an accommodation so her son could attend the YMCA after-school program held on school grounds. The answer, Sacco said, was an immediate verbal denial. On Sept. 11 the building’s assistant principal issued a written denial, she said, and repeated it the day before the meeting, on the grounds that an independent renter runs the program and the school bears no responsibility. She cited Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and said being told to source, hire and fund an aide herself was an illegal surcharge.
The district is attempting to levy a private disability tax on families of students with disabilities just to access a public school building.
— Natalie Sacco, parent [3:30]
She said she emailed Superintendent Erin Obey and the committee on Sept. 11 and Sept. 17 and got no reply, and asked the district, under the state public records law, for the exact amount of federal IDEA money it receives and a line-item account of where that money goes.
Obey said there was no email from her, and told her a public records request has to be made in writing. Member Katrina Delaney had seen nothing either.
I don’t have a record of it either. I mean, I can ask our IT director to search the server and see if it’s out there somewhere, but it’s not in any of the mailboxes.
— Superintendent Erin Obey 7:05
The superintendent’s report opened with fiscal 2027 grants: just over $1,080,000 so far, up just over $100,000 from last year, with more expected. Two fair share earmarks are new, worth $150,000, of which $100,000 is for capital facilities and $50,000 for HVAC, plus another $50,000 HVAC support earmark, all of it aimed at operational needs. Entitlement grants run the other way. Title I, Title IIA, Title IV and IDEA funds shrink a little every year while salaries rise, and they mostly pay people: Title I tutors at Bryantville, much of the special education staff under IDEA. A couple of previously grant-funded positions moved onto the operating budget this year. Between the IDEA and early childhood grants, the district is down to about $2,000 in supplies.
