Plainville School Committee Proposes $8.67 Million Budget, Seeks Added Special Ed Staff

NORTH ATTLEBORO -- March 8, 2022, Plainville School Committee opens public hearing on $8.67 million FY2023 budget, a 9 percent increase over current year. Superintendent David Rees presented a level-services proposal of $8,668,771, revised downward by $56,000 from an earlier draft after updated tuition reviews, that adds two special education teachers, a half-time speech-and-language position, an English language learner paraprofessional, and a continuation of nursing support, while cutting one general-education classroom teacher. Wood School nurse Caroline Pascantonio and Jackson School nurse Angela told the committee the current 0.2 supplemental nurse, roughly three hours of help per nurse per week, was dangerously insufficient given rising medical complexity among students: "We are in dire need of some extra help." A parent in the audience pushed back on the level-services framing, calling on the committee to "swing for the fences" and let residents vote on what students actually need, prompting a member to respond that two failed overrides had left the district with little fiscal room. The committee also unanimously confirmed membership for a 13-member superintendent search committee with three alternates, set to hold its first MASC-guided procedural meeting March 17.