Groton - The Groton Board of Education on Friday submitted to the town an education budget of $77.1 million for the coming fiscal year, an increase of 2.7 percent over the current year's spending.

"It's a budget that is true to keeping the district moving forward," Board Chairwoman Kim Watson said Friday.

The education budget was due to the town by Saturday. The Town Council will get the spending plan next and may cut or add money, but not specify where those cuts come from or how the money is spent. The budget then goes to Representative Town Meeting, which may also reduce spending or restore cuts made by the council, but only up to what the Board of Education asked for.

Watson said she hopes the town will support the board's request, despite recent news of a decline in the tax base. Groton's grand list fell 2.2 percent this year, and the combined assessment of the top 10 taxpayers dropped by $100 million, mainly due to the demolition of Pfizer Inc.'s former research headquarters.

"I am a little bit concerned because there's a lot of talk about how the grand list is down because of Pfizer," Watson said. But she said the budget is "a minimal increase compared to what we've had to do" and when viewed over time.

Superintendent Michael Graner had proposed an education budget of $77.6 million for the coming fiscal year, a 3 percent increase over current spending.

The budget includes funding for three additional clinical social workers for the three district programs for students with severe behavior problems. It also supports a new after-school enrichment program that would be open to all students but reach out to gifted children. After-school activities would focus on science, math and technology, the arts, or physical fitness.

The budget includes a "modest" increase of 2.53 percent to the salary account, from about $45.8 million to about $46.8 million, mainly due to contractual raises, Watson wrote in a letter about the proposal to Mayor Rita Schmidt.

The other large cost is the anticipated increase in tuition for special education students, and for those leaving the district to attend magnet schools. Tuition costs would rise 19.63 percent, from about $4.87 million to about $5.83 million.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim