Plympton School Committee Grapples with Budget Increase
Committee explores ways to trim $774,321 increase while preserving staff positions and educational quality
PLYMPTON - February 24 - The Plympton School Committee faces difficult decisions as it reviews a proposed $4.7 million budget for fiscal year 2026 that represents a 19.5% increase over the current year. During Monday's meeting, committee members and administrators worked to find potential savings while maintaining educational quality and avoiding staff cuts.
"It's not the desire or the intention of this committee to cut any personnel from the budget tonight," Chair Jason Fraser assures attendees. "We do intend to look through the budget line by line to make sure we can justify to the voters of the town where we're spending their money."
The proposed level service budget shows a $774,321 increase over last year, with special education costs rising by 55.4% ($475,635) and regular education increasing by 7.4% ($227,685).
Committee members express concern about the potential need for a tax override, which would require both town meeting approval and a ballot vote.
"We sit precariously close to the position where we'll need a budget override in town to make the numbers work as they're presented tonight," Fraser explains.
The committee identifies several areas for potential savings. They agree to reduce the vocational education allocation by $77,200, keeping funding only for the one student currently enrolled rather than budgeting for three potential students.
"I believe it's the will of the town side, and mine as well, that we reduce that number right off the bat by $70,000 and leave the funding for the one child we know about," Fraser says. "If anyone else applies, we can deal with it from that end."
The committee also discusses removing $2,000 in placeholder funds for homeless and foster care transportation, with the understanding they would address those needs if they arise during the year.
Circuit breaker reimbursements for special education costs provide another opportunity for budget relief. Dr. Christine Panarese, Director of Special Education, confirms they can increase the expected reimbursement rate from 62% to 75%, resulting in approximately $130,000 in offsets.
After these adjustments, the committee calculates a revised budget of approximately $4.5 million, representing about a 12.5% increase over the current year's budget.
Jon Wilhelmsen, Vice Chair, requests postponing the final budget vote until their March 26 meeting to allow for potential adjustments based on upcoming meetings about shared costs with other districts.
"I would prefer to wait until our next meeting to vote the budget," Wilhelmsen says. "I'd like to see how that comes out before we make a final decision on not adding any of that list back in."
The "list" refers to positions cut in previous budgets that administrators hope to restore, including a math interventionist and paraprofessional positions at a cost of about $82,000.
Fraser acknowledges the committee had asked to see the costs of restoring these positions because "we kind of ended up in a difficult position this year because of our staffing situation, how close to the bone we cut the budget last year."
The budget challenges facing Plympton reflect broader issues with education funding in Massachusetts. Fraser, who serves as President of the Mass Association of School Communities, notes that over 80 towns and cities sought tax overrides last year, with only about 40% passing.
"We had over 80 towns and cities last year go for overrides. About 40% of them passed," Fraser says. "There's more towns this year that are approaching overrides than even last year. So it's a historic high."
Fraser points to several factors contributing to the funding crisis, including the state allowing private special education schools to increase tuition by double-digit percentages while municipalities remain constrained by Proposition 2 1/2, which limits property tax increases to 2.5% annually.
"How can a required net school spending go up by more than 2.5% when we're constrained by Proposition 2 1/2?" Fraser asks.
The committee plans to meet with the Finance Committee on March 10, after which the Board of Selectmen will likely decide whether to put an override on the warrant.
Other items discussed at the meeting include:
- The hiring of a half-time English Language teacher who has begun working at the school
- Progress on literacy assessments and the development of a three-year literacy plan
- The formation of a math steering committee to review potential new math programs
- An application for a grant to implement new social studies curriculum for 5th and 6th grades
- The success of recent school events, including a "Big Rocks Day" and a cereal box domino event that resulted in 237 boxes of cereal being donated to local food pantries
The committee will reconvene on March 26 to finalize the budget after gathering more information from upcoming meetings.