Circuit breaker and surplus
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/fy2026-circuit-breaker.json
FY2026’s vote counted on $480,204 of circuit breaker for collaborative tuition; $333,495 came, on 29 June.
A line voted net of the circuit breaker
The budget book prints collaborative tuition twice: $782,867 for the tuition, and a Circuit Breaker line of −$480,204 beneath it. Town Meeting votes the difference, $302,663. So the line is voted on the assumption that the state’s reimbursement will pay part of the bills.
The reimbursement does not arrive in the line. It sits in its own fund, and pays a bill only when a bill is charged to that fund. Until then the school budget pays, and the line shows as over budget. A charge to the fund afterwards lowers what the school budget spent, so it raises what was left.
What the school budget leaves unspent returns to the town as free cash. What the circuit breaker fund leaves stays in the fund, to be spent within a year of arriving (DESE).
| School general fund, this year’s tuition | Circuit breaker | IDEA grant (our match, by payee) | Next year’s tuition, paid early | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $304,748 | $494,969 | $0 | $0 |
| FY2024 | $588,508 | $466,296 | $0 | $0 |
| FY2025 | $732,298 | $473,650 | $0 | $0 |
| FY2026 | $1,013,494 | $333,495 | $287,108 | $189,277 |
Private and collaborative tuition together, every fund. The circuit breaker is what fund 2640 charged to tuition accounts. Orders still owed are counted.
| Change | Total after | |
|---|---|---|
| Voted, net of the circuit breaker | $302,663 | $302,663 |
| This year’s bills, paid by the school budget | -$880,988 | -$578,326 |
| Next year’s first quarter, paid early | -$189,277 | -$767,602 |
| Charged to the circuit breaker, 29 June | +$333,495 | -$434,108 |
| Left | -$434,108 | -$434,108 |
FY2026. School general fund account 9400 535023; the charge is journal 2026/12/000692.
Counted on, and charged
The year before
The year of this surplus
The budget book’s figures, and the journal’s. The year before, the vote was set by a July entry that took the circuit breaker off the line.
What it means: One year drew the fund as bills came in and charged more than the vote counted on; the next charged less, all of it on 29 June.
The circuit breaker fund, through the year
As the Town printed it
At year end (our sum)
The Town’s special-revenue report at the end of March, then the school journal; nothing else posted to the fund from April to June.
What it means: While the collaborative line ran over, the fund that was counted on to pay part of it held more than $615,301.
1 · The facts
$480,204
circuit breaker the FY2026 vote counted on, collaborative
$333,495
charged to it, in one entry on 29 June 2026
$146,709
counted on, never charged
$445,631
drawn from the fund July to May, FY2025
$4,005
drawn from the fund July to May, FY2026
$615,301
held in the fund at 31 March 2026
$281,806
held after the 29 June charge
$287,108
IDEA grant paid toward private tuition, FY2026
our estimate
$189,277
FY2027 tuition paid early, from the general fund
$148,623
left in FY2026 without the 29 June charge
$482,118
left in FY2026, orders owed counted
2 · What it shows
- 1
The vote counted on $480,204 of circuit breaker; $333,495 was charged, on 29 June.
What it means: Collaborative tuition is voted net of it, so the line ran over until then. The fund still held $281,806 afterwards.
- 2
July to May the fund paid $445,631 of tuition in FY2025 and $4,005 in FY2026.
What it means: The state’s money was in by 31 December 2025; until 29 June the school budget carried the whole tuition bill.
- 3
Without the 29 June charge FY2026 would have left $148,623; with it, $482,118.
What it means: 69% of the surplus is that one entry, which changed which fund paid, not what anything cost.
- 4
The general fund, not the circuit breaker, paid $189,277 of FY2027 tuition early.
What it means: At the Finance Committee on 22 October the circuit breaker was named as the account allowed to prepay a first quarter.
What the record shows, and does not
Shows. The circuit breaker paid tuition bills as they came in FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025. In FY2026 it paid $4,005 before June, while the state’s $325,970 for the year was in the fund by 31 December 2025. The IDEA grant paid $287,108 toward private tuition that year, by our match on the payee.
Does not show. Why the fund was left untouched until 29 June: a late claim, a choice to keep the money for later, or an ordinary year-end clean-up all fit the same postings. Nothing held says which.
Would settle it. The district’s year-end close memo for the school budget, and the circuit breaker claim with the state’s payment schedule. Both are on What we cannot answer.
What was said
“We are allowed to prepay the 1st quarter of out of district tuition from circuit Breaker accounts.”
— Finance Committee, 22 October 2026
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 — FY2026 budget, 3-12-25 Town Manager’s budget (collaborative tuition and its circuit breaker line)
- Town of Lunenburg — special-revenue-fy2026-p09.xlsx (fund balances, 31 March 2026)
- DESE — circuit breaker FAQ (spending within a year of receipt)
- Finance Committee recording, 22 October 2026