Special education, utilities and vendor contracts seen as top cost pressures

Board members and staff flagged special education as a continuing and potentially growing cost driver for FY27. Miss Judd said staff added "a significant amount of money to the budget last year" for special education and warned the district may need additional funding again this year.

Trustees also called out energy and utilities as significant operating pressures, with one member noting electricity costs have risen about 10% and urging the district to explore mitigation strategies across its many buildings. Judd and operations staff said some vendors (for example athletic officials) had set nonnegotiable increases this year and that certain contractual obligations limit short-term savings. The combination of contractual cost growth, special education expense and utilities leaves limited discretionary funds for new investments.