Warrant Committee Votes to Offer Reserve Funds for Special Education Deficit

BELMONT -- May 28, 2025, Belmont Warrant Committee signals it will make reserve funds available to cover a $185,000 special education shortfall. The committee voted 9-0 with three abstentions at its May 28 meeting to notify the Select Board and School Committee that the Warrant Committee's reserve fund, holding approximately $350,000 after lower-than-expected generator costs, is available to help address the fiscal year 2025 out-of-district special education deficit, which a school department memo projects at roughly $185,000. The vote does not itself release any money; that authority rests jointly with the Select Board and School Committee, who meet Tuesday, June 3, to act. Chair Paul Richter framed the motion as giving those boards "all the tools at their disposal." Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dion and School Committee Finance Subcommittee representative Meg Moriarty both abstained, citing the need to deliberate with their full boards before taking a position. The School Committee Finance Subcommittee had separately voted to recommend using the full $600,000 Special Education reserve rather than a targeted $185,000 draw, arguing that a partial draw would zero out the circuit breaker carryover and leave the district with no cushion heading into fiscal year 2026.