PLYMOUTH — Nov. 2, 2026 — Plymouth’s out-of-district special education placements, including pending ones, will cost just under $22 million, and next year’s busing budget faces a built-in increase as one-time money runs out, school finance officials told the School Committee last Monday in the fourth session of a budget education series.
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Special education. Assistant Superintendent Adam Blaisdell said the presentation was meant to show what the district is legally and contractually required to fund before choices are made for a fiscal 2028 budget facing revenue shortfalls. About 25% of students, or 1,726, have individualized education programs, and just over $36 million of the district’s $133 million budget goes to special education, he said. Most are served through inclusion; 6% are in out-of-district placements.
Blaisdell said in-district programs average about $25,000 per student, compared with about $81,000 at a collaborative, $81,000 to $125,000 at day schools and about $328,000 for residential programs. He said one private school has petitioned for a 28% increase in day tuition and nearly 31% for residential, which would add about $95,000 above what the district expected.
A slide listing high-cost placements printed an incorrect bottom-line total, which Blaisdell corrected during the meeting to just under $22 million. The slide’s two components, $20,382,761 for current placements and $1,515,483 for pending placements, add to $21,898,244.
State circuit breaker reimbursement helps, but only after the district pays a threshold of $54,906 per student and then at 75% of the remainder, a year after the money is spent, Blaisdell said. Assistant Superintendent Stacey Rogers said placement decisions are made by each student’s team, and that students who move in with existing placements bring those costs with them.
