Nantucket Public Schools projects modest roll-forward increase; special-education contractor costs drive professional services

Nantucket Public Schools presented its FY27 roll-forward budget to the school committee on Jan. 20, describing the projection as a process to carry existing contractual obligations forward rather than a request for substantial new staffing.

CFO Martin Angiloff said the district began the budget year with a $43,146,000 base for FY26 and, after incorporating existing contracts and known costs (transportation, tuition, special-education contractors), produced a projected roll-forward of about $44,000,007.72, a 3.8% increase. "This is basically to keep existing budgets whole moving forward," Angiloff said.

Angiloff highlighted a $620,000 increase in the professional services account largely tied to hiring contractors for special-education evaluations, assessments and Chapter 766 tutors when the district has not been able to fill positions. He said that offsetting savings on the salary side exist where contractor costs substitute for unfilled positions, but that the overall operating expenses remain under pressure from inflation and service costs.

The CFO also reported a positive turnaround in the school lunch program, which operated at a surplus of about $25,000 and has served approximately 17,000 more lunches year-to-date compared with the previous year. "All meals are free for all students," Angiloff noted, and higher reimbursement rates contributed to improved revenue for the program.

Angiloff said the roll-forward does not include requests for new permanent positions for this cycle and cautioned that operating expenses have lagged historical inflationary pressures; the district continues to identify capital funding for larger projects (he noted an annual outside capital ask of roughly $550,000).