Nauset Regional School Committee Delays FY2027 Budget Vote Pending Enrollment Reconciliation

ORLEANS — March 12, 2026 — Nauset Regional School Committee delays FY2027 budget vote, hears urgent plea to preserve preschool staffing. The committee held a required public hearing Thursday on a proposed $40.7 million regional budget — a $627,968 increase, or 1.56 percent, over the current fiscal year — but deferred a formal vote to a follow-up session on March 18, citing a discrepancy between October 1 and January enrollment counts that affects how costs are assessed across the four member towns. The assessment to those towns, when factoring in revenue offsets including a halving of the district's excess-and-deficiency draw from $2 million to $1 million, reflects a 5.54 percent increase. Superintendent Dr. Marc Winser presented the budget, attributing cost drivers to a 3.25 percent COLA under the district's collective bargaining agreement, an 8 percent health insurance increase, and rising out-of-district special education placements. During public comment, Brewster parent and Stony Brook PTO member Kat Jackson called the proposed elimination of two preschool paraeducator positions — roughly a 33 percent staffing cut — "devastating," warning that reducing adults in classrooms of 13 three- and four-year-olds with complex needs "risks destabilizing the environment and creating preventable safety concerns." Winser acknowledged the preschool's governance structure is "unique" and "confusing," confirmed it currently falls under the regional director of student services with no formal subcommittee oversight, and said the program "must" be given a full holistic review before next year's budget cycle.