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.