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District overview

Attleboro Public Schools

Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.

How is Attleboro Public Schools funded?

State-formula funded, and among the lowest-spending districts it compares itself to

Like most Massachusetts districts, Attleboro's budget is set by the state's Chapter 70 formula and a required city contribution called Net School Spending. The formula moves with enrollment and a handful of other factors the district does not control, so small swings in student counts or insurance costs can create real budget gaps. Attleboro told its own School Committee it spends well below the average of the districts it compares itself to, even as some of its students' test results beat those of higher-spending peers.

State aid moves with enrollment, not need

When an October 2025 count showed enrollment down by about 76 students, the district said it lost roughly $1.3 million in state Chapter 70 aid -- even though the number of students who actually left Attleboro school buildings that year was close to zero. Much of the drop reflected accounting for students who live in Attleboro but attend a charter school.

The city must fund whatever the formula requires

State law requires the City of Attleboro to appropriate at least the state-calculated Net School Spending minimum for schools every year. The FY27 budget the School Committee adopted, $117,152,040, was set about 0.6% above that required minimum.

Attleboro spends less per pupil than similar districts

The district reported spending about $16,543 per pupil, 27% below the $22,543 average of the state comparison ('DART') districts it measures itself against, while placing in roughly the bottom tenth of Massachusetts districts for spending above the state minimum.

Special-education and transportation costs are outrunning the formula

The district drew $400,000 from its Special Education Stabilization Fund in FY26 alone to cover transportation cost overruns -- the third year running it has needed to do so -- because rising special-education transportation costs are not fully covered by state aid.

None of this means the district is poorly run: despite ranking among the lowest-funded comparison districts, Attleboro students posted results ahead of several higher-funded peers on the 2025 MCAS, and the FY27 budget added no new programs, putting the money toward keeping current services running rather than expanding them.

Where the district stands

FY27 adopted budgetverified
$117,152,040
FY26 adopted budgetverified
$112,174,457
FY27 budget increase over FY26context
4.4%

Calculated from the two adopted budget totals: ($117,152,040 - $112,174,457) / $112,174,457.

Per-pupil spending, as reported by the districtverified
16,543 $/student
Average per-pupil spending among DART comparison districtscontext
22,543 $/student
Total enrollmentverified
6,204 students
Students receiving special-education servicesverified
1,300 students (approx.)
Students in Chapter 74 CTE programs at AHSverified
1,739 students (86% of AHS)
Special Education Stabilization Fund draw approved for FY26 transportationverified
$400,000
Students reassigned by the 2026 redistricting planverified
225 students (approx.)

About 200 elementary students, mostly Thacher to Hyman Fine, plus about 25 middle-school students, Coelho to Wamsutta.

District employeesverified
1,182 employees

The district describes itself as the third-largest employer in the City of Attleboro.

Major projects

District boundary redistricting

Approved; taking effect for the 2026-27 school year

The School Committee approved new elementary and middle-school attendance boundaries, moving about 200 elementary students (mostly Thacher to Hyman Fine) and about 25 middle-school students (Coelho to Wamsutta), aimed at balancing enrollment across buildings and lowering transportation costs.

Next: Finalize bus routes with contractor H.L. Bloom and notify affected families before the 2026-27 school year begins.
  1. Finance & Budget Subcommittee reviews first boundary data from consultant Ross Haber & Associates
  2. District holds a community meeting on proposed boundaries
  3. School Committee approves the redistricting plan, 9-0
  4. New boundaries take effect for the 2026-27 school year

Funding

No new appropriation; funded within the regular operating and transportation budget. The district expects the change to reduce transportation costs, not add to them.

New seclusion and restraint procedures

Policy adopted; procedure manual and staff training underway

The district is rewriting its rules for restraining or secluding a student in crisis to comply with new state regulations that ban locked seclusion rooms. Doors are being removed from timeout rooms over the summer, and a stand-alone procedure manual, separate from the special-education procedures manual, is being built with parent feedback from two listening sessions.

Next: Finalize and distribute the new procedure manual and complete staff training before the 2026-27 school year begins.
  1. School Committee adopts updated restraint policy JKAA, effective July 1, 2026
  2. First public listening session on the new procedures
  3. Second listening session with a full presentation of the draft procedure manual
  4. New policy takes effect

Funding

District operating budget; no separate appropriation described in the collected record.

Building repair and capital improvement backlog

Unfunded; awaiting city capital-budget decisions

The district lists 7 pending building-repair projects worth about $13 million, including roof and HVAC work at Coelho, Thacher and Brennan and fire-suppression work at Studley, on its capital improvement list submitted to the city. Some items have been resubmitted for years. Under the city charter, the Mayor decides which capital projects get funded each year.

Next: City hearings on the FY27 capital improvement budget; no funding date is confirmed for the pending projects.
  1. District submits its 2025 Capital Improvement Project list, largely unchanged from the prior year
  2. Infrastructure & Facilities Subcommittee reports 7 pending projects totaling about $13 million

Funding

City of Attleboro capital improvement budget, subject to the Mayor's annual funding decisions; not yet funded for the pending items.

FY27 budget

Adopted by the School Committee; awaiting the state's final Chapter 70 numbers

The School Committee adopted a $117,152,040 FY27 budget, up 4.4% from FY26, that funds current programs and services with no new initiatives. The City of Attleboro faced a projected $2.5 million deficit of its own, and the district's unions were in active contract negotiations while the budget was being set.

Next: The state legislature's reconciled FY27 budget, expected by early summer 2026, will set the final state aid the city budget depends on.
  1. Finance Director previews a preliminary FY27 budget of about $117.1 million
  2. Public hearing on the proposed FY27 budget; three residents speak in opposition, none in favor
  3. School Committee adopts the FY27 budget, 8-0

Funding

State Chapter 70 aid plus the City of Attleboro's required Net School Spending appropriation.

Recent alerts by topic

Every agenda the City of Attleboro's AgendaCenter published for the School Committee and its four subcommittees, and every set of minutes and other document Attleboro Public Schools published to its own online document library, were downloaded and reviewed for the period. Scanned pages without embedded text were read with OCR.

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