Lowell School Committee approves $1.9 million budget transfer, hears autism surge data

LOWELL — June 17, 2026 — Lowell School Committee approves $1.9 million year-end budget transfer and hears alarming autism growth data at June 17 meeting. Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services Alice Brown-LeGrand presented a detailed analysis showing autism is now Lowell's single most common primary disability category, affecting 27.1 percent of the district's 3,002 students with disabilities — compared with only seven autism classrooms in the late 1990s versus 54 today. The district absorbed 46 unanticipated students into specialized autism programs during the 2025-2026 school year alone and faces a shortfall of 11 elementary and 22 middle school classroom slots going into 2026-2027. Committee member Fred Bahou flagged a $574,000 overage in substitute teacher spending within the budget transfer, which Superintendent Liam Skinner characterized as a significant improvement over prior years when the substitute budget had run as high as $6 million. Bahou also withdrew a motion that would have directed staff to call homeschooling families this summer after four homeschooling parents testified the outreach could feel coercive and represented an ineffective use of strained central office resources, with member Danielle McFadden citing "feedback I've been getting all week from homeschool families" in announcing her opposition. Skinner closed the public session by calling on the city to begin urgent capital planning for air conditioning in school buildings, noting that a celebration at the Moody School the previous Friday had been held in what attendees described as unbearable heat.