Nahant Finance Committee Weighs $1 Million Override as Special Education Costs Surge

NAHANT -- March 5, 2026, Nahant Finance Committee scrutinizes a $5 million school budget and a proposed $1 million override amid surging special education costs. At the March 5 meeting, Superintendent Rob Lebo walked the committee through three FY27 budget scenarios for Johnson Elementary School: a level services budget of $5,046,154, a 3.95 percent increase over the current year, and an override budget of $5,237,403, with the school's share of a $1 million override totaling $191,249. Out-of-district special education tuitions and transportation account for more than $1.2 million in the school budget, with a combined increase of roughly $282,000 in all scenarios. Lebo disclosed that the state is closing the Pappas program, affecting at least one Nahant student whose replacement placement costs, potentially among the highest in the state, are not yet calculated and are not included in any budget version. He also cautioned that the level services budget's $350,000 Circuit Breaker offset is "fully risk-loaded," telling the committee, "I am not 100 percent confident that that number will be there." Town Administrator Allison Nieto separately presented general government budgets showing a 0.4 percent decrease in level services and a 1.7 percent increase under the override, along with a 12 percent projected health insurance premium increase and two proposed bylaw amendments, one that would move the annual town election from April to June and reduce town meeting speaking time from 10 minutes to four minutes.