Wayland Public Schools is expected to close out its fiscal year with a balanced budget despite unexpected costs and a budget freeze earlier this year, Susan Bottan, the district’s finance director, announced at a School Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 25.
“There have been a wide range of challenges,” Bottan said. “Offsetting those challenges, there has been a wide range of solutions.” The leading sources of unexpected costs were changes in individual student services, facilities issues, and substitute teacher pay, according to Bottan.
Substitute costs ran 73% over budget, resulting in a shortfall of $74,000. Bottan said the district often underestimates how much to budget for substitute teacher pay, as it’s hard to predict when teachers will take leaves of absence. “We have never been really good, I have to say, about budgeting exactly what we’ll need for substitute costs,” she said. “We always come under.”
Next year, Bottan said the district will increase its substitute budget by $60,000 to account for future increases. Wayland also overspent on special needs services. The district saw a 64% increase for out-of-district placement of special needs students, and a 30% increase for both in-district and out-of-district transportation for those students. The shortfall for special education costs totaled almost $1.6 million.
To manage these costs, Bottan said Wayland won a $192,000 Extraordinary Relief award, a one-time state grant for situations where special education costs exceed the district’s reasonable predictions. Although the district had to use one-time funds to cover special education this year, Wayland’s Special Education Reserve Fund — money reserved specifically for unbudgeted special education costs — will increase to $500,000 from $150,000 next year to help cover future costs.
The schools also incurred a $87,000 shortfall from unexpected facility repairs, necessitating spending on custodian overtime, supplies, septic services, and HVAC repairs. School Committee Chair Erin Gibbons said that the district has consistently incurred unexpected facilities costs due to its aging buildings, most of which have not been renovated since the 1960s. “It’s taking away from things that we budgeted for, against unanticipated facilities issues,” she said.
The district’s partial budget freeze this winter saved Wayland $480,000, according to Bottan’s preliminary report. A combination of reimbursements from investments, bus fees, grants, staffing exchanges, and a pause on non-essential spending is expected to cover the rest of the deficit.
Bottan noted that her presentation at the meeting was not finalized — last-minute purchase orders and salary payments are subject to change, which may slightly alter the estimates. The district will present a final report in September.
“As of yesterday, I was looking at about a $4,000 balance at the end of this year,” Bottan said. “Fast-forward to today, there are more ebbs and flows. You know, we will end on budget.”
Bottan maintained that the schools provided all necessary services amid the economic uncertainty. “Given all of this, I want the school committee to know that no student went without, no staff went without,” she said. “If there were things that our teachers needed, we found ways of delivering them to our classrooms.”
