Lincoln School Committee Faces $567,000 Hanscom Budget Gap in FY2017 Preliminary Plan

LINCOLN -- November 5, 2015, Lincoln School Committee faces a $567,000 Hanscom budget gap in its FY2017 preliminary plan. Business Administrator Buck Crovo and Superintendent Becky McFall presented a roughly $25 million district budget November 5, with the Lincoln campus coming in exactly at the Finance Committee's 2.5 percent growth guideline at $10,903,613, while the Hanscom proposal of $13,067,338 outpaced the Department of Defense Band 3 contract allocation of $12,500,205. Special education costs drove the shortfall: collaborative out-of-district placements alone are now projected at $804,000 against a 2012 estimate of $122,000, and districtwide special education enrollment climbed from 186 to 223 students in one year. Administrators said they would likely seek a Hanscom reserve fund transfer to cover the gap but cautioned the reserve cannot absorb annual shortfalls indefinitely, with the five-year DOD contract expiring after FY2017. The committee also unanimously approved a one-year bus contract extension with Dougherty's Garage at new option-year pricing.