Rare operating budget decline for Lyme-Old Lyme school district

Old Lyme - Few, if any, school districts this year will be able to do what Lyme-Old Lyme is doing: proposing an operating budget that's significantly lower than its current spending plan, all while keeping programs intact and staying on track with ongoing needs.

The cost of operating the school district next year is expected to be $123,000 less than this year.

It is only the debt repayment for the Lyme-Old Lyme High School building project that pushes the total school budget above this year's funding level. After factoring in $587,201 in debt repayment for the project, the regional school district's total 2012-13 school budget comes in at $31,010,964, a 1.52 percent ($464,201) increase over the current year.

The school district will hold a public forum Wednesday at the middle school to discuss the budget proposal.

All the key elements aligned this year to make up what Superintendent Elizabeth Osga called "a once-in-a-lifetime budget."

"It doesn't get better than this," she said.

First, the school district was able to take advantage of a 2.5 percent interest rate last month by selling its second tranche of bonds for the high school renovation project at favorable rates. The district also resold bonds for the four-school building project last year and will be able to reap the benefits of the lower interest rate for those bonds next year, Osga said.

"It's still a sizable increase, but it's definitely been offset (by) the resale of the old bonds to a lower rate," she said.

Teachers, administrators and Osga also have all agreed to forgo a raise next year, helping keep the salary line item - notoriously the largest part of any school or municipal budget - in check.

A new "minimum budget requirement" state law mandates that school budgets not dip below the current spending level unless there are adjustments to be made for declining enrollment. Osga said Lyme-Old Lyme expects a smaller student population next year and that the proposed budget does not dip below what the state has calculated as the minimum allowed for Lyme-Old Lyme, Osga said.

A smaller student body means two fewer teachers at the elementary schools, a $259,269 savings in the certified salaries line. Osga said it was too soon to tell whether the staffing reductions would be achieved through retirements or layoffs.

Special education costs are going down by $450,954 because the district will have fewer students with special education needs, Osga said.

Meanwhile, the district is adding a new program and new equipment, something unheard of in recent years as municipalities have struggled to keep spending down. Among other things, the district will hire a gymnastics coach for about $3,000 next year, reflecting the renewed interest in the sport; buy SMART Boards for fourth-grade classrooms ($15,600); and add wireless Internet and a mobile laptop cart at the middle school ($36,000).

The budget also includes money to switch the school board to an e-meeting format, Osga said, which means board documents will be available digitally and will be projected on a screen during meetings, at a startup cost of $4,500. The e-meetings will cost $1,500 each year thereafter and save money on paper and mailings, Osga said.

The district also will introduce a new math program for all grades, at a cost of about $120,000, that will be more rigorous and introduce content such as algebra earlier, Osga said.

The new curriculum will be consistent with national math standards, which national assessments will test in three years, Osga said.

"We don't want to dilly-dally," she said. "We know that (a) more rigorous program is necessary for our kids to achievement mathematical standards. And we're getting right to it."

j.cho@theday.com