===PAGE 1=== BUDGET ADDENDUM: MULTI-SCENARIO FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Lunenburg Public Schools Fiscal Year: FY 2027 Date Prepared: 3/13/26 Prepared By: Jodi Fortuna, Superintendent and Christopher McNamara, Business Manager 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This addendum to the FY 2027 restoration budget presentation outlines four potential budget scenarios for the Lunenburg Public Schools. Because final state aid, local appropriations, and grant funding revenues remain fluid, the district administration has prepared these models to illustrate the programmatic, staffing, and operational impacts of different funding levels. The four scenarios presented are: 1. Level Service Budget (Baseline) 2. Restoration Budget (Comprehensive Needs/Ideal) 3. Core Budget (Essential Needs/Prioritized Additions) 4. Balanced Budget (Projected Reality) 2. SCENARIO A: LEVEL SERVICE BUDGET (The Baseline) ● Total Estimated Budget: $27,410,701 ● Variance from Prior Year: +$1,623,227 / +6% ● Projected Deficit: -$838,413 Definition: A Level Service Budget represents the exact cost required to provide the exact same level of services, programs, and staffing in the upcoming fiscal year as are currently provided in the current fiscal year. It accounts for mandatory cost increases such as contractual salary step/lane changes, inflation, special education out-of-district tuitions, health insurance premiums, and utility rate increases. Key Assumptions & Drivers: ● 9% increase in health insurance premiums. ● 10% increase in Transportation costs. ● All current staffing levels are maintained (no new hires, no layoffs). ===PAGE 2=== ● Fulfills all collective bargaining obligations. Impact Statement: This budget does not add any new programs to address emerging student needs, nor does it cut any existing programs. It represents the "status quo" adjusted for inflation and fixed costs. ● Reallocations: ○ $50,000 from school choice revolving/transportation to offset transportation costs ● Reductions: ○ $10,000 Maintenance Emergency Repairs ○ $10,000 Maintenance of Buildings Supplies ○ $ 10,000 Maintenance of Grounds Contracted Services ○ $4,500 Custodial Supplies ○ 1,000 Mileage ○ Subtract 50,000 transportation ○ 17450 athletic transportation ○ 4140 trash removal ○ 12510 maintenance buildings contracted serv ○ 20000 maintenance of building supplies ○ 9720 Fire Safety furniture repair ○ ● Adjustments: ○ Increased School Committee Legal expenses $15,000 ○ 3. SCENARIO B: RESTORATION BUDGET (Comprehensive Needs/Ideal) ● Total Estimated Budget: $ 28,545,750 ● Variance from Prior Year: $ 2,758,276 / +11% ● Variance from Level Service: $1,135,049 ● Projected Deficit: -$ 1,973,462 Definition: The Restoration Budget represents the educational ideal for the district. It builds upon the Level Service budget by adding back some critical positions, programs, or resources that were cut in previous difficult budget years, and funds newly identified critical needs to support student success. Proposed Restorations / Additions: ● Staffing: ○ $57,111 1.0 Paraprofessional K ○ $107,347 1.0 Interventionist at THES ○ $107,347 1.0 Bridge Program Teacher LHS ===PAGE 3=== ○ $57,111 1.0 Bridge Paraprofessional LHS ○ $28,976 .4 Music Teacher LHS ○ $107,347 1.0 World Language Teacher LHS ○ $107,347 1.0 English Language Learning Teacher ○ $10,000 1.0 Assistant Business Manager ○ $31,000 .5 State Reporting Secretary ○ $107,347 1.0 Interventionist LMS ○ ● Programs:Reinstatement of the Bridge program at Lunenburg High School Impact Statement: Of the four budget scenarios presented in this addendum, this comprehensive option provides the most robust level of support for our students and our schools. It represents a direct, thoughtful response to the evolving needs of the Lunenburg Public Schools. While we recognize that fully funding these initiatives requires an operational override, it is important to clearly communicate the reality of our district's current landscape. This specific scenario is the pathway that allows us to maintain our educational standards while restoring essential services. It is a necessary step to stabilize our foundation and ensure every student is safe, supported, and positioned for success. Selecting this comprehensive budget tier translates directly into tangible, essential resources for our classrooms that are not fully realized in the lower-funded scenarios. It empowers the District to: ● We will be able to address early literacy skills, ensuring every young learner builds the critical reading foundation necessary for lifelong academic achievement. ● This budget establishes a deeply supportive environment, providing essential mental health and social-emotional resources for our students at Lunenburg High School. ● This funding allows us to provide legally required, equitable, and high-quality services to our district's multilingual learners, ensuring every student has access to a great education. ● We can continue to offer the choices of Latin, Spanish, and French and world language instruction to our eighth-grade learners, while also creating additional music offerings beyond traditional band and chorus to educate the whole child. ● It secures the necessary operational and administrative support in our business office, which is essential for maintaining efficiency, transparency, and fiscal responsibility on behalf of our taxpayers. When weighing this scenario against the other three options, we must consider the long-term impact on our educational community. Passing this budget allows us to prioritize foundational learning, sustain valuable academic programs, and actively support our students' mental health. We ask the Committee and the community to view this comprehensive scenario as a meaningful, necessary investment in the safety, well-being, and academic excellence of Lunenburg's future. ===PAGE 4=== 4. SCENARIO C: CORE BUDGET (Essential Needs/Prioritized Additions) ● Total Estimated Budget: $28,163,566 ● Variance from Prior Year: $ 2,376,092 / +9% ● Variance from Level Service: $752,865 ● Projected Deficit: -$ 1,591,278 Definition: The Core Budget represents a prioritized, targeted approach to meeting student needs. It is a step down from the full Restoration Budget but still allows the district to restore the most absolutely essential positions and programs. It builds upon the Level Service budget by adding back only the highest-priority items necessary to support core educational and social-emotional goals. Proposed Essential Changes: Staffing Additions: ● $57,111 1.0 Paraprofessional K ● $107,347 1.0 Interventionist at THES ● $107,347 1.0 Bridge Program Teacher LHS ● $57,111 1.0 Bridge Paraprofessional LHS ● $28,976 .4 Music Teacher LHS ● $107,347 1.0 World Language Teacher LHS ● $107,347 1.0 English Language Learning Teacher ● $10,000 1.0 Assistant Business Manager ● $31,000 .5 State Reporting Secretary Staffing Losses: ● $161,064 1.0 Interventionist at Lunenburg High School ● $ xxx,xxx .2 Music teacher at THES Program Additions: ● Bridge Program at LHMS. Program Reductions: ===PAGE 5=== ● $14,415 Middle School Sports ● Grade 5 Band Impact Statement: Of the four budget scenarios presented, this option represents a strategic middle ground. It makes critical, targeted investments in our most pressing areas of student need without the larger tax impact of the full restoration budget. While this scenario requires the district to compromise on some longer-term strategic goals and make a difficult staffing cut and programmatic cut, it ensures our most essential student support structures are put into place. It is a fiscally mindful approach that balances immediate district needs with community impact. This budget tier prioritizes targeted additions to stabilize our schools and fulfill mandated obligations. Under this scenario, the District is able to fund the following essential programs and positions: ● By adding a 1.0 Bridge Program Teacher and a 1.0 Bridge Paraprofessional, we can restore this much-needed program at LHMS to provide specialized, transitional support for our students while ensuring adequate leadership and student guidance at the high school. ● The addition of a 1.0 Kindergarten Paraprofessional and a 1.0 Interventionist at Turkey Hill Elementary School (THES) will provide crucial foundational support and timely academic interventions for our younger learners. ● We will meet the growing, required needs of our multilingual learners by adding a 1.0 English Language Learning Teacher. We will also sustain academic and artistic enrichment at the high school through the addition of a 1.0 World Language Teacher and a .4 Music Teacher. ● The addition of a 1.0 Assistant Business Manager and a .5 State Reporting Secretary is a necessary compliance measure. These roles are critical to meet strict state reporting requirements, manage essential funding, and avoid costly financial penalties that would otherwise pull resources directly from our classrooms. To achieve this Core Budget level and fund the urgent additions above, we are forced to make a difficult reduction that directly impacts student support at the secondary level. Selecting this scenario means the District must: ● We will cut a 1.0 Interventionist position at Lunenburg High School. While this is a difficult loss, the high school administration is committed to restructuring existing support schedules and maximizing our current instructional staff to ensure our students continue to receive the targeted help they need to meet academic benchmarks. ● Eliminate middle school sports programs which strips away a school sponsored pillar of our community's youth development. Beyond the impact on student physical health, ===PAGE 6=== these programs are essential for fostering teamwork, school pride, and vital social- emotional skills during vulnerable early adolescence. For many families, the elimination of these accessible, school-sponsored activities creates a void, drastically limiting extracurricular opportunities and fracturing the unifying community spirit that our local athletics have traditionally provided. This scenario represents a measured step forward. It allows us to build the vital Bridge Program, support our youngest learners, and maintain compliance with state mandates. However, the Committee and the community must weigh these crucial additions against the loss of a dedicated academic interventionist at the high school as well as middle school sports. It is a scenario of targeted progress, achieved through necessary compromise. 5. SCENARIO D: BALANCED BUDGET (Projected Reality) ● Total Estimated Budget: $26,572,288 ● Variance from Prior Year: $ 25,787,474 / +3% ● Variance from Level Service: -$868,918 Definition: The Balanced Budget aligns total expenditures with the district's actual anticipated revenues. Because anticipated revenues are often lower than the cost of a Level Service Budget, this scenario will require strategic reductions. Key Adjustments from Level Service: Reductions: ○ $205,019 2.0 Classroom FTE at Primary ○ $171,811 2.0 Classroom FTE at THES ○ $152,829 1.0 FTE Assistant Principal through attrition ○ $74,147 1.0 Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant through attrition ○ $ .2 Music teacher at Turkey Hill ○ $135,930 1.0 Interventionist at Primary ○ $53,674 .5 Interventionist at Turkey Hill ○ $48,630 1.0 Custodian through attrition Program Reductions: Impact Statement: The most immediate impact of this budget will be felt in the general education classrooms. The reduction of 4.0 Classroom FTEs (2.0 at the Primary School and 2.0 at Turkey Hill Elementary ===PAGE 7=== School) will increase class sizes significantly, pushing student-to-teacher ratios to 27-30 students per classroom. This reduces the amount of individualized attention each student can receive and places a heavier daily burden on our classroom educators. Additionally, a .2 FTE reduction in the Music department at Turkey Hill will result in tighter scheduling, larger class sizes for our arts programming, and the elimination of Grade 5 Band. Our ability to provide targeted, specialized support to struggling learners will be stretched. The elimination of 1.5 Interventionist positions (1.0 at Primary and .5 at Turkey Hill) diminishes our capacity to offer essential, small-group reading and math interventions. Furthermore, the loss of 1.0 Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) through attrition means that the Occupational Therapist will have to absorb higher caseloads, which could impact the frequency and flexibility of services for students with fine motor and developmental needs. Administrative and operational capacities will be visibly reduced. By eliminating 1.0 Assistant Principal through attrition, the Primary School and Turkey Hill will now be forced to share a single Assistant Principal. Splitting this vital administrative role between two distinct campuses will stretch leadership resources, potentially delaying responses to student behavioral needs, behavioral interventions, and daily operational troubleshooting. Additionally, the loss of 1.0 Custodian through attrition means that the daily upkeep of Lunenburg High School will be managed by smaller teams. While these reductions were carefully calculated to stave off catastrophic system failures, the School Committee and the public must confront the stark reality: balancing this budget forces a damaging departure from the educational standards our community expects. Moving forward, we are pushing our system to the brink, relying unsustainably on the sheer resilience and dedication of our overextended educators, administrators, and support staff to hold together a safe, supportive environment for our students under immense pressure. 6. CHANGES SINCE 2/24/26 BUDGET PRESENTATION Budget Reductions: ● $84,690 From Health Insurance ● $110,195 From High School Principal/ Assistant Principal ● $72,241 From MS Special Educators Budget Additions: ● $226,644 Move 2.0 FTEs to the gen fund due to the elimination of grant funding ● $2,819 Primary School Column Moves ● $2,806 Primary school Special Education Teachers- Column Changes ● $4,228 Elementary School Special Education Teachers-Column Changes ● $2,815 District Wide Ell teachers-Column Changes ● $2,819 MS Guidance Counselors- Column Changes ===PAGE 8=== ● $2,805 HS Guidance Counselors- Column Changes ● $2,815 PS Social Workers-Column Changes ● $8,146 PS Nurses-Column Change ● $2,807 ES Nurses-Column Changes ● $2,821 HS Nurses Column Changes ● $10,000 Athletic Director Stipend 7. COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL SUMMARY Category A. Level Service B. Restoration Budget C. Core Budget D. Balanced Budget Total Expenditures $27,410,701 $ 28,545,750 $28,163,566 $ 26,572,288 Total Anticipated Revenue $26,572,288 $ 26,572,288 $ 26,572,288 $ 26,572,288 Surplus / (Deficit) $838,413 $ 1,973,462 $1,591,278 $0.00 Headcount Admin: 18 *Teachers: 132 Secretaries: 8 Paras: 55 Cust.:14.5 **Cafe: 13 **Ext. Day: 18 Admin: 17 *Teachers: 137 Secretaries: 8.5 Paras: 57 Cust: 14.5 **Cafe: 13 **Ext. Day: 18 264 Admin: 17 *Teach: 135 Sec. 8.5 Paras: 57 Cust:. 14.5 **Cafe:: 13 **Ext. Day: 18 262 Admin: 16 *Teachers: 130 Secretaries: 8.5 Paras: 55 Cust:.13.5 **Cafe: 13 **Ext. Day: 18 253 ===PAGE 9=== 256.5 *Teacher counts include all members of the LEA ** The majority of Cafeteria and Extended Day employees are part time 8. NEXT STEPS & TIMELINE ● 3/18/26: School Committee Deliberation and Vote on Final Budget Number ● 3/19/26: Tri-Board Meeting ● 5/2/26: Annual Town Meeting Final Appropriation and Override