Friendship School budget request could be reduced
Waterford — The school board may reduce its budget request before it meets with the Board of Finance, according to Superintendent Thomas W. Giard.
State Department of Education officials have released money allocated to LEARN, the regional agency that administers the magnet Friendship School on Rope Ferry Road, possibly offsetting the budget deficit the school faces next year, Giard said.
The Friendship School has served Waterford and New London kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students since it was built with state funding in 2005.
The Waterford Board of Education voted last month to pass a $46.9 million 2016-17 budget that included a nearly $1 million tuition payment to LEARN for tuition to the Friendship School.
Both Waterford and New London typically pay about $100,000 per year in tuition to send their students to the school.
Uncertain about how much state funding it would receive, LEARN turned to Waterford and New London districts to cover the costs of operating the school next year.
The amount of money it needs has changed as state officials have revealed the amount of pre-kindergarten funding it will release to LEARN for the Friendship School and negotiations continue over magnet and pre-k funding in the 2017 state budget.
LEARN executive director Eileen Howley told the school's governing board last week that the state had released the pre-kindergarten funding it had budgeted for the current fiscal year.
That money will be able to offset the money LEARN needs to keep the school running next year, but Giard said the amount the district budget could decrease is still not certain.
The Waterford district presents its budget to the Board of Finance Wednesday.
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