Finance Panel Recommends $418,000 School Article

Finance Committee · Meeting of August 27, 2026

LUNENBURG — The Lunenburg Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend a $418,056 school spending article and deferred two companion sports and funding articles ahead of a September 3 special town meeting. Superintendent Dr. Fortuna said $129,458 freed up when the district received only 36 of its requested "Ignite" tutoring grant seats will instead fund a second grade teacher, a reading specialist and other staff, cutting projected grade 2 class sizes from 31 to 24-25 students.

Clerk Tom Gray pressed her on why a roughly $119,000 financial audit and a new behavior-analyst position missed the cut; Fortuna said "there's no good option that doesn't leave other important services on the table." Petitioner Mandy Gilman said she'll ask town meeting to pass over Article 2, "because I want Article 1 to pass." A citizen-led sports article, pushed by petitioner Matt Nazarenko, remained stuck at roughly $40,308 to $45,849 with no confirmed funding source, pending Select Board and School Committee votes next week. The committee also approved its July 23 minutes, 4-0-1.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,515 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of August 27, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.