Special education grants
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-grants.json
Special education grants and the circuit breaker paid $1,055,922 in FY2023 and $773,361 in FY2026.
| Circuit breaker | IDEA (special education) | IDEA (preschool) | Pandemic IDEA, ended | Program improvement grants | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $494,968 | $473,083 | $13,083 | $73,045 | $1,743 |
| FY2024 | $466,296 | $572,447 | $13,325 | $0 | $13,477 |
| FY2025 | $498,451 | $462,115 | $13,373 | $0 | $0 |
| FY2026 | $337,499 | $435,862 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Spent or still owed at the close, by the fund that paid. FY2026 is not yet closed in this run.
Grants and a reimbursement
The grants are federal awards DESE allocates to each district by formula. The circuit breaker is not a grant: it is the state repaying part of the previous year’s costliest placements.
| Paid, by year of payment | Initial listing (district) | |
|---|---|---|
| FY2006 | $293,705 | not published |
| FY2007 | $298,889 | not published |
| FY2008 | $305,393 | not published |
| FY2009 | $474,301 | not published |
| FY2010 | $211,224 | not published |
| FY2011 | $201,165 | not published |
| FY2012 | $419,945 | not published |
| FY2013 | $615,317 | not published |
| FY2014 | $575,389 | not published |
| FY2015 | $672,634 | not published |
| FY2016 | $784,099 | not published |
| FY2017 | $507,832 | not published |
| FY2018 | $366,790 | not published |
| FY2019 | $430,958 | not published |
| FY2020 | $478,987 | not published |
| FY2021 | $484,579 | not published |
| FY2022 | $519,394 | not published |
| FY2023 | $415,750 | not published |
| FY2024 | $401,966 | not published |
| FY2025 | $508,441 | not published |
| FY2026 | $579,142 | $579,142 |
| FY2027 | not published | $818,087 |
DESE’s payments by the year paid; the next year is the district’s initial listing, which DESE revises during the year.
What it means: It swings: $201,165 at its lowest, $784,099 at its highest, against an average of $454,567. The FY2027 listing, $818,087, is above every year paid.
| IDEA (special education) (#240), allocated | Next year, our estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | $353,466 | not published |
| FY2018 | $360,585 | not published |
| FY2019 | $362,328 | not published |
| FY2020 | $369,440 | not published |
| FY2021 | $386,101 | not published |
| FY2022 | $399,152 | not published |
| FY2023 | $404,772 | not published |
| FY2024 | $420,163 | not published |
| FY2025 | $424,156 | not published |
| FY2026 | $423,912 | not published |
| FY2027 | $423,413 | $423,413 |
| FY2028 | not published | $430,549 |
DESE’s allocations by award year; FY2027 is announced. The dashed end is ours: FY2027 moved by the median yearly change, 1.7%.
What it means: An average of $393,408 a year, and $423,413 announced for FY2027. At its usual yearly change FY2028 would be about $430,549: our estimate, not an award. It fell in each of the last 2 years, so the estimate may run high.
| IDEA (preschool) (#262), allocated | Next year, our estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| FY2019 | $12,026 | not published |
| FY2020 | $12,303 | not published |
| FY2021 | $12,401 | not published |
| FY2022 | $12,500 | not published |
| FY2023 | $13,083 | not published |
| FY2024 | $13,325 | not published |
| FY2025 | $13,373 | not published |
| FY2026 | $13,366 | not published |
| FY2027 | $13,967 | $13,967 |
| FY2028 | not published | $14,152 |
DESE’s allocations by award year; FY2027 is announced. The dashed end is ours: FY2027 moved by the median yearly change, 1.3%.
What it means: An average of $12,927 a year, and $13,967 announced for FY2027. At its usual yearly change FY2028 would be about $14,152: our estimate, not an award.
What each one pays for
IDEA (#240)
Federal, by formula. Each award is spent over up to three school years.
What it means: Mostly staff pay: the grant pays for people, so a smaller award is a question about posts.
Circuit breaker
Not a grant: the state repaying part of last year’s costliest placements.
What it means: Mostly tuition: it follows the placements it repays, so it moves with them a year late.
Preschool IDEA (#262)
Federal, by formula, for children aged three to five.
What it means: Small and steady: it changes little from year to year.
Ended and small grants
Pandemic IDEA, ended; and the program improvement grants.
What it means: Money that has stopped: whatever it paid for is now paid by another fund or not at all.
1 · The facts
$1,055,922
paid by grants and the circuit breaker, FY2023
$773,361
paid by grants and the circuit breaker, FY2026
$424,156
IDEA allocated, FY2025, the peak
$423,413
IDEA allocated, FY2027
$579,142
circuit breaker paid by DESE, FY2026
$325,970
booked received in the fund, FY2026
$337,499
spent from the fund, FY2026
—
where the rest of the payment was booked
not published
$73,045
pandemic IDEA spent, FY2023, its last year
$13,366
preschool IDEA award loaded, FY2026
$0
of it spent by the close
2 · What it shows
- 1
IDEA rose every year to $424,156 for FY2025, then fell 2 years running, to $423,413 for FY2027.
What it means: The largest grant has stopped growing, so none of the next rise in special education costs is covered by it.
- 2
DESE paid $579,142 of circuit breaker in FY2026; the fund booked $325,970 received and spent $337,499.
What it means: The rest may be booked later, as $100,377 of FY2024’s was, or booked elsewhere; the ledger cannot say which.
- 3
The two pandemic IDEA grants paid $73,045 in FY2023 and nothing after; DESE allocated them once.
What it means: What they paid for, mostly contracted services and evaluations, either moved to another fund or stopped; the ledger cannot tell which.
- 4
Preschool IDEA’s FY2026 award, $13,366, had nothing spent by the close; the 3 before were spent in-year.
What it means: Small, but the one award here with nothing spent; whether it was spent after the close is not in this ledger.
Related
- Grants for surprises →Which grants could pay for a mid-year surprise
- Circuit breaker →How the state works out its reimbursement
- Grants other districts get →Competitive grants comparable districts won that Lunenburg did not
- School grants and aid →General state aid beside every grant: allocated, spent, trend
| FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 | Four years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit breaker (fund 2640) | $494,968 | $466,296 | $498,451 | $337,499 | $1,797,214 |
| IDEA (special education) (#240) | $473,083 | $572,447 | $462,115 | $435,862 | $1,943,506 |
| IDEA (preschool) (#262) | $13,083 | $13,325 | $13,373 | $39,781 | |
| IDEA (pandemic relief) (#252) | $64,816 | $64,816 | |||
| IDEA preschool (pandemic relief) (#264) | $8,229 | $8,229 | |||
| Special education program improvement (#274) | $543 | $13,477 | $14,021 | ||
| Preschool special education program improvement (#298) | $1,200 | $1,200 | |||
| All of it | $1,055,922 | $1,065,546 | $973,939 | $773,361 | $3,868,768 |
Spent or still owed at the close. The bottom row is the other-funds figure on Special education, all funds.
| Allocated by DESE | Loaded in the ledger | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 | Spent, these years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IDEA (special education) (#240), FY2021 award | $386,101 | $21,150 | $21,150 | $21,150 | |||
| IDEA (special education) (#240), FY2022 award | $399,152 | $379,861 | $360,455 | $19,256 | $379,711 | ||
| IDEA (special education) (#240), FY2023 award | $404,772 | $404,852 | $91,478 | $313,294 | $404,772 | ||
| IDEA (special education) (#240), FY2024 award | $420,163 | $423,977 | $239,897 | $180,294 | $1,666 | $421,857 | |
| IDEA (special education) (#240), FY2025 award | $424,156 | $424,156 | $281,820 | $112,981 | $394,801 | ||
| IDEA (special education) (#240), FY2026 award | $423,912 | $423,912 | $321,215 | $321,215 | |||
| IDEA (preschool) (#262), FY2023 award | $13,083 | $13,083 | $13,083 | $13,083 | |||
| IDEA (preschool) (#262), FY2024 award | $13,325 | $13,245 | $13,325 | $13,325 | |||
| IDEA (preschool) (#262), FY2025 award | $13,373 | $13,373 | $13,373 | $13,373 | |||
| IDEA (preschool) (#262), FY2026 award | $13,366 | $13,366 | $0 | ||||
| IDEA (pandemic relief) (#252), FY2022 award | $88,330 | $64,816 | $64,816 | $64,816 | |||
| IDEA preschool (pandemic relief) (#264), FY2022 award | $8,229 | $8,229 | $8,229 | $8,229 | |||
| Special education program improvement (#274), FY2021 award | not listed | $0 | $543 | $543 | |||
| Special education program improvement (#274), FY2024 award | not listed | $14,430 | $13,477 | $13,477 | |||
| Preschool special education program improvement (#298), FY2021 award | not listed | $0 | $1,200 | $1,200 |
Allocated and loaded are budgets; spent is the ledger, and is not subtracted from either. Loaded and spent count FY2023 to FY2026 only: an older award’s earlier figures are not in this journal. Not listed: DESE’s file does not list that award.
| FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid by DESE, by year of payment | $415,750 | $401,966 | $508,441 | $579,142 |
| Booked received in fund 2640 | $415,750 | $301,589 | $608,818 | $325,970 |
| Spent from fund 2640 | $494,968 | $466,296 | $498,451 | $337,499 |
DESE’s payment is by the fiscal year it was paid; the fund’s receipts and spending are the Town’s ledger.
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 — period-13 MUNIS spreadsheets, school general fund and special funds, FY2023–FY2026 (munis-school-ytd.csv), tied account by account
- Town of Lunenburg — how the journal reached us, and what was redacted
- Massachusetts DESE — entitlement grant allocations, by district and fund code (dese-entitlement-allocations.csv)
- Massachusetts DESE — circuit breaker reimbursements, every district (dese-circuit-breaker.xlsx)