Special education burndown
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/sped-burndown.json
Also under FY2026 closeout
In FY2026 the circuit breaker paid $4,005 from July to May, then $333,495 in one June entry.
| July to May | June | |
|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $411,958 | $83,010 |
| FY2024 | $440,104 | $26,192 |
| FY2025 | $445,631 | $52,820 |
| FY2026 | $4,005 | $333,495 |
Actuals on special education accounts in the circuit breaker fund. Never shown by month: a month can hold one family’s payment.
| FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Jul | 99.6% | 99.6% | 99.3% | 99.3% |
| Aug | 97.1% | 96.0% | 96.8% | 98.5% |
| Sep | 88.2% | 87.2% | 91.3% | 88.0% |
| Oct | 80.3% | 78.9% | 83.1% | 76.9% |
| Nov | 72.5% | 68.8% | 71.4% | 69.4% |
| Dec | 65.3% | 61.9% | 62.1% | 58.1% |
| Jan | 55.9% | 52.0% | 55.6% | 52.5% |
| Feb | 48.9% | 41.9% | 47.6% | 46.2% |
| Mar | 39.2% | 33.3% | 39.8% | 39.0% |
| Apr | 33.2% | 25.6% | 28.8% | 27.8% |
| May | 22.7% | 17.4% | 19.4% | 18.7% |
| Jun | 6.0% | 1.8% | 2.8% | 0.5% |
General fund special education accounts, department 300: share of the final budget not yet spent. Psychology and equipment are outside it, as DESE decides.
1 · The facts
$445,631
circuit breaker, July to May, FY2025
$4,005
circuit breaker, July to May, FY2026
$333,495
circuit breaker, June, one entry
$480,204
tuition budget set lower for circuit breaker
$741,536
general fund, Sep and Oct, FY2025
$1,339,236
general fund, Sep and Oct, FY2026
74%
contracted services budget left, December
44%
contracted services over budget, June
42%
tuition budget spent by December, FY2025
65%
tuition budget spent by December, FY2026
2 · What it shows
- 1
July to May, the circuit breaker paid $445,631 in FY2025 and $4,005 in FY2026.
- 2
General fund special education spending in September and October: $1,339,236, against $741,536 in FY2025.
- 3
Tuition spent 65% of its FY2026 budget by December; 42% in FY2025.
- 4
Contracted services still had 74% of the budget left in December and ended June 44% over.
| Left, Sep | Left, Dec | Left, Mar | Left, Jun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out-of-district tuition, FY2025 | 88.0% | 58.0% | 38.8% | 3.9% |
| Out-of-district tuition, FY2026 | 75.7% | 35.0% | 29.5% | 11.4% |
| Transportation, FY2025 | 94.5% | 65.5% | 45.9% | 2.3% |
| Transportation, FY2026 | 95.2% | 61.0% | 40.5% | -9.6% |
| Contracted services and evaluations, FY2025 | 100.0% | 72.6% | 50.3% | 10.8% |
| Contracted services and evaluations, FY2026 | 98.8% | 73.6% | 44.6% | -44.1% |
| Staff pay and benefits, FY2025 | 91.2% | 62.0% | 38.9% | 2.3% |
| Staff pay and benefits, FY2026 | 90.5% | 64.1% | 41.3% | -0.2% |
| Supplies, equipment and other, FY2025 | 97.7% | 48.3% | 35.2% | 19.2% |
| Supplies, equipment and other, FY2026 | 85.3% | 81.9% | 79.6% | 67.9% |
Share of each part’s final budget not yet spent; a negative figure is over budget.
Sources
- Lunenburg Budget Project — munis-school-journal.csv (every school journal line, FY2023–FY2026, our redacted reading of the Town’s Report 1)
- Lunenburg Budget Project — munis-school-journal-accounts.csv (every school account, with the FY2026 figures the report prints)
- Town of Lunenburg — how the journal reached us, and what was redacted
- Lunenburg Public Schools — budget book, 12 March 2025 (Collaborative Tuitions, circuit breaker line)