BOE cuts come from special education tuition
Last week, Stafford’s Board of Finance (BOF) voted to remove a total of $304,000 from the budget ahead of the fourth referendum. A little less than half of that, $150,000, is to come from the Board of Education (BOE), but until today, no one was quite sure where that money would come from. At the June 13, 2026, special meeting of the BOE, Stafford learned where it would come from: special education.
While it might sound dire when the schools are starting to dip into their special education budgets to accommodate cuts, this is an example of a plan, and an investment, starting to work. Last year, a big priority for the schools was implementing the Effective School Solutions (ESS) program, with the aim of bringing students who were in expensive outplacements back to district—and keeping kids from having to leave in the first place. Back in January, Stafford Free Press reported that the schools were pointing to savings realized through the implementation of the ESS program. The full cost of the program was estimated at about $150,000, but at the time, the district believed it could offset $70,000 of that cost through grant funding.
Back then, Superintendent of Schools Scott Sugarman pointed to salary and benefits, transportation, and utilities as the categories driving increases. Sugarman also noted that Pupil Services and out-of-district costs were not shaping up to be a significant budget driver as they had been in years past—and, in fact, they were projected to decrease by over $200,000.
The Special Education tuition budget was down more than $280,000 from $3,477,639 to $3,195,586 at the beginning of the budget process. Now, the BOE has approved removing another $150,000 from that line item.
Board member Shana Boland asked Sugarman to explain to taxpayers why this was not done before. He explained that the process of bringing students back to the district is lengthy, involving multiple meetings with the family, and then a transition period for the student. They may come back to district for a couple of days a week, or only for half-days, at first. During that time, the schools still have to pay for the full tuition. So, even if the district hopes to be able to bring a student back to the district by December, they budget for the full amount just in case the transition is not successful.
The next Town Meeting and budget referendum
The Board of Selectmen also held a special meeting on July 13, to approve a call for a Town Meeting on July 22, 2026. Removed from the call for that meeting is the next iteration of the budget of $47,867,028, which will be sent to referendum on July 29, 2026.
However, any eligible voters at the Town Meeting will vote on two other issues:
“To approve a FY 2025-2026 additional appropriation transfer of $49,838.00 from 20-99-9996 to 20-670-9951 as recommended by the Board of Finance at their April 23,2026 meeting”—Back in April, the BOF approved a transfer of $43,477 from the Assigned General Fund balance-revaluations to the account for Revaluation-2025. They also approved transferring $19,30, the cost of stipends paid for Building Official services to other towns, but those stipends were covered by revenue received for the services.
“To amend Ordinance 1-26 as requested by the Historic Advisory Commission and recommended by the Board of Selectmen at their April 1, 2026, meeting”—The amendment is as follows, “To study and provide advice to the Board of Selectmen and the Planning and Zoning Commission on the use or disposition of selected
Town ownedproperties and buildings that are historically and culturally significant to the Town of Stafford.”
