After a long and detailed look at the Watertown Public Schools budget this year left Town officials with questions, an outside auditor will be hired to look at the school budget – particularly the special education portion.
The rising cost of special education this year concerned Town Councilors. School officials said the district had an unusual number of new students move in with high-cost special needs, plus the town has had a spike in students who need special needs services. Part of this was due to the students who lived near the area of the shootout with the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects having emotional problems. (Read more here).
After the Fiscal 2015 was approved, the Town Council voted unanimously to approve Town Manager Michael Driscoll’s request to hire a third-party auditor to examine the school budget. The audit will include both the general education and the special education spending for Watertown Schools.
While the Town Council does not control how the school officials spend their budget, they do approve the appropriation from the town, so they can hire an auditor to examine that budget.