Plympton School Committee Faces 19.7% Budget Increase for FY26
Special education costs drive proposed $783,138 hike
PLYMPTON - January 27 - The Plympton School Committee is grappling with a proposed 19.7% budget increase for fiscal year 2026, totaling $783,138 more than last year. The increase is largely driven by special education costs, which have risen by 55.4%.
At a recent meeting, Sarah Hickey, the Director of Finance and Operations, presented a preliminary budget for FY26 that reflects a 7.7% increase of $236,503 for regular day operations and a 55.4% increase of $475,635 for special education.
"The total budget is an increase of 19.7%, which is an increase of $783,138 more than last year," Hickey explained.
The proposed budget does not include the restoration of previously cut positions, which would add an additional $81,978 to the total. These positions include a one-to-one full-time equivalent aid, a math interventionist, a 1.0 full-time equivalent aid, and a 0.4 aid.
Peter Veneto, Dennett Elementary Principal, highlighted the growing percentage of high-needs students in the district. "Our percentage of what we consider high-needs students has increased virtually every single year," he said. "In our current school year, we're looking at 37.5% of all students considered to be high-needs students."
High-needs students are defined as those who are low-income, economically disadvantaged, English language learners, or students with disabilities.
The school has seen significant enrollment growth in recent years. "Right before the pandemic, when we opened the doors in 2019, we started with 199 students. When we opened the doors this year, we had 251," Veneto noted.
The budget includes an estimated $107,109 in circuit breaker funding, which is state reimbursement for high-cost special education students. However, this amount is not factored into the total increase figure.
Committee members expressed concern about the substantial increase and requested more detailed breakdowns of the special education costs.
"We have a $475,000 increase in special education. Is it possible to break that down?" asked member Jon Wilhelmsen. "I think it's going to be important to understand for folks between increased costs for existing placement versus new placement."
The administration agreed to provide a more detailed breakdown of the special education costs, including information on which new placements might be eligible for circuit breaker reimbursement in future years.
The committee also discussed the need to educate the town's Finance Committee on the complexities of special education funding. "We have many years of level to decreasing special ed budgets. And this is... So for most of the people doing this, this is all net new," Wilhelmsen noted.
The proposed budget includes funding for three students to potentially attend vocational technical school, although the committee suggested this might be reduced to two students to align with more realistic expectations.
Capital needs were also discussed, with the administration proposing a facilities assessment to better understand future maintenance requirements, particularly for the school's water filtration system.
The committee plans to meet with town officials to discuss the budget proposal and determine next steps. "We're going to have to sit down and potentially have a really thought-provoking and important conversation about where our values lie as a community, where our values lie as a school, and where we want to see the investments of our dollars go to support the education of the students," the committee chair, Jason Fraser, stated.
The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for the Monday after February vacation, where further discussions on the budget are expected to take place.