Norwich — A proposed school budget that would not end the 2020-21 fiscal year in another deficit would total $88.6 million, with a $7.5 million, or 9.34%, spending increase over this year’s total, but the Board of Education realized that figure wouldn’t fly either with taxpayers nor the City Council.

“You’re the best person to say what the city will bear,” first-year Superintendent Kristen Stringfellow said to the board, cautioning that she needed to add a couple new positions in order to realize greater savings through special education and transportation costs.

In her first budget as head of Norwich schools, Stringfellow said in order to avoid running a deficit for the third straight year, an $88.6 million budget would be needed, with a $7.65 million increase over this year’s $81 million budget. This year’s budget is expected to end the year with a $1.1 million deficit, bringing the actual total to $82.1 million.

Board member Aaron “Al” Daniels presented an alternative, recommending a 3% increase over the $82 million total, for an $84.5 million budget. Board member Patricia Staley agreed, and suggested a 3% to 4% increase. Daniels said the Norwich Public Schools budget should not be less than the 3% tuition increase for Norwich Free Academy.

The board opted to delay a vote on the proposed budget until after a new joint ad hoc committee of the school board and City Council meets for the first time. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Kelly Middle School.

The Board of Education scheduled a special meeting for 5:30 p.m. March 23 and must submit its budget to the city manager by March 24 for him to propose his budget to the City Council on April 6.

The biggest increases in Stringfellow’s proposal include a $1 million increase in certified salaries to cover contractual increases and the proposed addition of three reading teachers and an assistant special education director. Noncertified salaries would jump by another nearly $1.2 million, also including contractual obligations, overtime for integrating a new financial software program and additional special education paraeducators and a job coach for the post-high school special education vocational training program.

Health insurance is expected to rise by $1.8 million and all categories of tuition — high school and special education out-of-district placements — is expected to increase by $1.1 million “based on current needs and projections,” the budget document stated.

In her presentation to the board, Stringfellow said the 9.34% increase is needed “to maintain status quo and add a handful of items to increase educational effectiveness and fiscal efficiency.”

Summarizing the proposed additional staff and programs, Stringfellow said the $85,000 salary and benefits for the new assistant special education director is expected to be “budget-neutral” by creating programs to bring students in out-of-district placements back to Norwich at expected significant savings. A new $85,000 transportation coordinator also would be budget-neutral, Stringfellow said, because the person would be tasked with making bus routes “safer, shorter and more efficient financially.” The person also would be asked to develop a regional pilot special education transportation plan to save money.

Prior to September 2020, Stringfellow said, Norwich schools had no reading teachers, as they had been lost in past budget cuts. Veterans’ Memorial School used a grant to hire a reading teacher last fall.

“Reading teachers are needed as a basic resource for students struggling to read,” Stringfellow argued in her budget package. “I am proposing adding a reading teacher to each school, (3 a year over 3 years).”

The budget also adds one maintainer and a vehicle, a combined total of $130,000. The school system now has only two maintainers for 14 buildings, “and they cannot keep up with the demand,” she said.

One minor budget increase, costing $15,500 total, would restore middle school sports, also eliminated in past budgets several years ago. The plan would restore six teams, with sports to be determined, with $1,000 per school for supplies.

“There will be a positive correlation to school attendance, academic achievement and positive behavior due to this low-cost investment,” Stringfellow wrote. “Unified Sports teams (combining special needs students and partner players) at each middle school will be the priority.”

Stringfellow presented a chart forecasting how school budgets and deficits could look over the next 12 years to get out of deficit spending and eliminate the need to use the city’s undesignated fund balance at the end of each year. The 9.34% increase next year would eliminate deficit spending, she said, with estimated 2.9% increases in future years.

c.bessette@theday.com