Essex School Committee Approves Joint Budget Agenda, Launches Community Newsletter

ESSEX — October 21, 2025 — Manchester Essex School Committee approves joint budget meeting agenda and hears $2.5 million special education cost-avoidance case. The committee unanimously approved a draft agenda for an October 30 joint meeting with Manchester and Essex town finance representatives, covering FY27 budget drivers, a debrief on the DESE partner report, and the statewide Chapter 70 school finance formula review, which funds roughly 11 percent of the district's budget; members discussed submitting public comment before listening sessions close in mid-November. Director of Student Services Allison presented a comprehensive special education review showing 231 students — 19.6 percent of enrollment — currently hold IEPs, with special education consuming 26 percent of the operating budget, in line with comparable districts. She detailed how the district's seven in-district specialized programs, serving 73 students, avoid an estimated $5 million in gross out-of-district placement costs annually, with net savings of approximately $2.5 million after circuit breaker reimbursement, while out-of-district program tuitions have risen 36 to 52 percent since FY2019. The committee also voted unanimously to publish its first community newsletter and to remove the Apple Street site from consideration for the Essex Elementary building project, with a formal School Building Committee vote expected October 28.