District overview
How Nantucket Public Schools is funded, governed, and spending tax dollars
Massachusetts pays every district a base amount under a formula called Chapter 70, but on Nantucket that formula covers only a small slice of the budget. Because the island's property values are so high, the state calculates that Nantucket can afford to fund almost all of its own schools locally. For FY2027, the School Committee recommended a $45,574,847 school budget plus $600,000 more for the Community School program, and only about $4,960,902 of that is projected to come from the state. The rest has to be voted on and appropriated by residents at the town's Annual Town Meeting, which is why what the School Committee approves is only a recommendation until Town Meeting votes.
The district's FY2027 Chapter 70 state aid is projected at $4,960,902 against a $45,574,847 school budget — about 11%. That share has stayed low for years because state aid is tied to local property values, and Nantucket's are among the highest in Massachusetts.
The district's own budget materials report per-pupil spending of $28,994 in 2023-24 (the most recent year available), compared with a $21,868 statewide average that year — about 33% higher. A small district spread across four separate school buildings on one island carries fixed costs, like facilities and administration, that a larger district spreads across more students.
The five-member elected School Committee votes on a budget recommendation, but Nantucket voters have the final say at the Annual Town Meeting. Town finance officials told the Committee in January 2026 that a property-tax override could be needed within two to four years if town-wide costs keep outpacing revenue.
Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c.71 §59C) requires each of the four schools to have a council of elected parents and staff that reviews the school's budget and improvement plan. Nantucket's four councils met regularly this year, but they are advisory — the elected School Committee is the body that actually adopts policy and recommends spending.
None of this means the district's finances are hidden from view. The Committee posts a public agenda for even its routine contract-negotiation and policy subcommittee meetings, and the town's finance office publishes a multi-year public budget history alongside the schools' own numbers.
As of June 2026, up from 1,677 earlier in spring 2026 and 1,670 at the start of the 2025-26 school year.
$37,497,172 for payroll and $8,077,675 for operating costs; plus a separate $600,000 Community School appropriation. Voted unanimously by the School Committee; Town Meeting has the final vote.
The prior-year budget the FY2027 recommendation is measured against — an increase of about $2.4 million, or 5.6%.
About 11% of the recommended $45,574,847 school budget; the rest is funded locally through the town's property tax appropriation.
Both figures are for 2023-24, the most recent year in the district's own chart; more recent district and state figures were not in our collected records.
Up from about $13 million as the project's design was debated since 2017. Still needs Town Meeting funding approval; not part of the operating budget above.
Level-funded at $600,000 for a fifth straight year in FY27, even though the program requested $750,000.
Terms range from 2027 to 2029; the Committee reorganizes and reassigns officers each June.
The most recently posted minutes are from January 20, 2026. Later 2026 votes, including the final FY27 budget vote, are documented through draft minutes embedded in a subsequent meeting's packet, or through agendas alone when no minutes were available.
A long-delayed rebuild of the high school's athletic stadium and track, first proposed in 2017. After months of public debate over safety and environmental concerns, the School Committee changed the plan in December 2025 from natural grass and asphalt to a synthetic turf field and polyurethane gel track, with a requirement that the chosen turf be independently tested for PFAS chemicals.
Town of Nantucket capital appropriation, requiring Town Meeting approval (not routed through the state's MSBA school-building program)
Estimated at about $23 million as of December 2025, up from about $13 million as the debate continued for years.
Each fall the district and the town build a budget recommendation together, holding a public hearing before the School Committee votes on a final number to send to Town Meeting.
Local property tax appropriation voted at Annual Town Meeting, plus about $4,960,902 in state Chapter 70 aid
The recommended school budget is about $2.4 million, or 5.6%, above the FY2026 budget of $43,146,176.
Nantucket · $26,000,000
Voters approved a $26 million debt exclusion to renovate the high school's Vito Capizzo Stadium, including a new synthetic turf field, track, grandstand, and lighting. Town Meeting had endorsed the project 719-281 on May 4-5, and all seven ballot questions, including this one, passed at the May 19 town election.
Official source · verified Aug 19, 2026
Nantucket · $147,938,790
Town Meeting adopted the Fiscal Year 2027 General Fund Operating Budget of $147,938,790, a 5.21% increase driven partly by school funding, by a 970-65 vote on May 5, 2026. The School Committee had recommended $45,574,847 for the school department plus $600,000 for the Community School.
Official source · verified Aug 19, 2026
Built from the Nantucket School Committee's official agendas, packets, and minutes on the Town of Nantucket's public meeting portal, covering August 19, 2025 through August 18, 2026, and from the district's own FY27 budget presentations delivered at those meetings.
We read every agenda, packet, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
View alerts for this district