Grant allocations compared
lunenburgbudgetproject.org — written by the Lunenburg Budget Project, an independent tool for residents. Not affiliated with the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee or the school district. The data this page is computed from: /data/topics/grant-allocations-compared.json
Lunenburg gets less IDEA per pupil than most comparable districts; Title I tracks its low-income share.
| Lunenburg | Bordering towns' districts, median | Peers we chose, median | Alike in make-up, median | Alike in behaviour, median | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title I | $133 | $144 | $31 | $126 | $89 |
| Title II-A | $22 | $22 | $12 | $20 | $16 |
| Title IV-A | $10 | $12 | $6 | $9 | $7 |
| IDEA | $271 | $324 | $284 | $302 | $293 |
| Early childhood IDEA | $9 | $11 | $7 | $10 | $8 |
FY2025. Each allocation divided by DESE’s October headcount; each set’s median. Fitchburg cannot be matched and is left out.
| Lunenburg | Comparison districts, median | Alike in make-up, median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | $219 | $234 | $232 |
| FY2018 | not published | not published | not published |
| FY2019 | $220 | $249 | $251 |
| FY2020 | $225 | $249 | $250 |
| FY2021 | $242 | $273 | $274 |
| FY2022 | $250 | $271 | $284 |
| FY2023 | $259 | $276 | $281 |
| FY2024 | $266 | $292 | $292 |
| FY2025 | $271 | $297 | $302 |
FY2018 is a gap: DESE’s page for it returns an error.
1 · The facts
$271
IDEA allocation per pupil, Lunenburg, FY2025
$297
IDEA, median of the 28 comparison districts
5 of 28
comparison districts with less IDEA per pupil
$133
Title I per pupil, Lunenburg
$126
Title I, median of the districts alike in make-up
23.3%
Lunenburg pupils counted low-income
25.0%
low-income, median of those alike in make-up
$444
the five grants together, per pupil, Lunenburg
$424
the five together, comparison median
0.75
Title I per pupil against low-income share, 393 districts
0.24
IDEA per pupil against disability share, same districts
2 · What it shows
- 1
IDEA, the largest grant, came to $271 a pupil in FY2025; the comparison median was $297.
- 2
Lunenburg has been below that median on IDEA in every comparable year since FY2017.
- 3
Title I follows the low-income share closely; IDEA barely follows the disability share.
- 4
Across all five, Lunenburg got $444 a pupil against a median of $424.
Related
| Set | Pupils | Low-income | Title I | Title II-A | Title IV-A | IDEA | Early childhood IDEA | All five | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunenburg | Lunenburg | 1,563 | 23.3% | $133 | $22 | $10 | $271 | $9 | $444 |
| Monty Tech | Lunenburg’s vocational school, for reference | 1,417 | 27.7% | $192 | $25 | $15 | $297 | ||
| Gardner | behaviour | 2,532 | 63.0% | $348 | $40 | $25 | $358 | $16 | $787 |
| Leominster | border | 6,193 | 52.9% | $281 | $32 | $21 | $336 | $9 | $679 |
| Easthampton | behaviour | 1,368 | 38.9% | $188 | $27 | $14 | $405 | $14 | $648 |
| Northbridge | make-up | 1,838 | 37.0% | $202 | $31 | $14 | $391 | $11 | $648 |
| Fairhaven | make-up | 1,727 | 37.6% | $250 | $37 | $16 | $326 | $16 | $645 |
| Dracut | make-up | 3,491 | 34.8% | $174 | $28 | $12 | $318 | $11 | $543 |
| Ayer Shirley School District | border, peer | 1,723 | 33.2% | $153 | $21 | $15 | $320 | $15 | $523 |
| North Middlesex | border | 2,914 | 27.1% | $135 | $23 | $10 | $329 | $13 | $510 |
| Swansea | make-up | 1,991 | 26.5% | $157 | $23 | $13 | $304 | $10 | $508 |
| Maynard | make-up | 1,217 | 24.7% | $147 | $23 | $10 | $300 | $7 | $487 |
| Georgetown | make-up | 1,197 | 13.4% | $40 | $15 | $8 | $405 | $8 | $477 |
| Abington | behaviour | 2,143 | 33.0% | $123 | $21 | $8 | $292 | $5 | $448 |
| Belchertown | behaviour | 2,043 | 23.4% | $117 | $19 | $9 | $295 | $7 | $446 |
| Nashoba | border | 2,990 | 12.9% | $92 | $18 | $3 | $304 | $8 | $424 |
| Douglas | make-up | 1,113 | 23.7% | $106 | $18 | $9 | $280 | $10 | $423 |
| East Bridgewater | make-up | 2,013 | 25.4% | $94 | $16 | $7 | $284 | $5 | $408 |
| West Bridgewater | behaviour | 1,357 | 23.5% | $80 | $14 | $7 | $297 | $6 | $404 |
| Chelmsford | behaviour | 5,068 | 17.0% | $83 | $16 | $3 | $283 | $8 | $393 |
| Auburn | behaviour | 2,506 | 28.0% | $96 | $16 | $7 | $261 | $8 | $388 |
| Easton | behaviour | 3,360 | 19.8% | $41 | $15 | $6 | $298 | $11 | $371 |
| Sutton | make-up | 1,291 | 16.8% | $38 | $13 | $8 | $297 | $15 | $370 |
| Harvard | peer | 1,023 | 10.8% | $40 | $12 | $10 | $284 | $5 | $350 |
| Melrose | behaviour | 3,815 | 15.0% | $36 | $14 | $3 | $290 | $6 | $349 |
| Groton-Dunstable | peer | 2,300 | 9.7% | $26 | $12 | $4 | $296 | $8 | $347 |
| Pembroke | make-up | 2,367 | 17.3% | $45 | $17 | $4 | $257 | $9 | $332 |
| Hanover | behaviour | 2,550 | 9.8% | $25 | $11 | $4 | $271 | $14 | $326 |
| Littleton | peer | 1,655 | 9.1% | $31 | $12 | $6 | $253 | $7 | $310 |
| Westford | peer | 4,575 | 8.7% | $22 | $11 | $2 | $233 | $5 | $273 |
Allocation divided by DESE’s October headcount, FY2025, highest first after Lunenburg. Pupils and low-income share are DESE’s district profile. Fitchburg is left out: DESE lists two districts by that name and its pages cannot tell them apart. Monty Tech, Lunenburg’s vocational district, is shown and is in no median.
Sources
- Massachusetts DESE — Grant allocations and awards, by fund code, FY2017 to FY2027
- Massachusetts DESE — IDEA allocation page, FY2025 (our copy)
- Massachusetts DESE — FY27 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Federal Special Education Entitlement Grant (eligibility, quoted)
- Massachusetts DESE — district profiles: headcount, low-income, English-learner and disability shares (er3w-dyti)
- Lunenburg Budget Project — grant-allocations-compared.csv (every figure on these pages: allocation, headcount, per pupil, by district and year)
- Lunenburg Budget Project — Towns like us (where the comparison sets are defined)