Increasing costs of special education tuition has contributed to the sharp increase in the school budget over the past few years, Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee on Monday night, and for budget for the 2026-27 school year the district will have to find ways to close a multi-million dollar deficit. During the Preliminary Budget overview for the Fiscal Year 2027 School Budget Galdston said the shortfall facing the Watertown Public Schools is $2.5 million, which is based on what she called a level-services budget. The total budget would be $67 million, while the current revenues — including a 4 percent increase in funding from the City — is $64.5 million. School administrators and the School Committee will be working on the budget for the next several weeks, and the School Committee will hold a public hearing on March 23 and take a final vote on the recommended budget on March 26, Galdston said. “So what we need to do is think about our level-services budget, think about what we can do to bridge that deficit so that we are able to balance a budget moving forward,” Galdston said.
