Proposed Stonington school budget shows 8.9% increase
Stonington — Superintendent of Schools Van Riley presented a proposed 2021-22 school budget, which calls for an 8.9% spending increase, to the Board of Education on Thursday night.
The $41.6 million budget proposal shows a $3.4 million increase.
While the Board of Finance has recommended the school budget increase not exceed 1.5%, Riley pointed out that the school budget has shown decreases of 0.30% and 1.32% over the past two years. Even with an 8.9% increase, he said the three-year average increase would be 2.4%, which is the average of what had been approved in years before that and is what is needed to maintain programs.
He said that if decreases continue, "the impacts on instructional programs and staffing will be significant."
"With typical employee contract adjustments, utility increases, employee benefit increases, special education tuition increases and other inflation impacts, it is impossible to maintain quality programs with negative or near negative increases," Riley wrote in his budget address.
He pointed out that costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and special education are two of the challenges facing the budget. The proposal calls for just one new position: an elementary school teacher.
The largest increase is in the area of employee health insurance, which shows a $1.1 million hike. Teacher salaries also are increasing $503,000 and paraprofessionals $160,000.
There are also two new programs: $352,600 for an expanded summer school program to help students affected by the pandemic catch up academically and $331,287 for additional academic and social support for students. The summer school program would serve more than 400 students over a six-week period.
"To me these are big items but they are the result of the pandemic we've experienced this year," Riley said.
Riley also listed the many initiatives taken by the school system to reduce costs, such as consolidating the middle schools, returning two buildings to the town, improving energy conservation and creating a program that expanded services for students to avoid costly placements in outside programs.
The school board is slated to hold workshops over the next three weeks to finalize a budget to send to the Board of Finance for approval.
On Thursday night, the board also received an updated projection that the school's response to the COVID-19 pandemic will cost $640,000 not in the current budget. In addition, there is a $587,000 shortfall in special education costs. The school board is expected to ask the Board of Finance to use $570,000 surplus from the 2019-20 budget to help offset the COVID-19 costs.
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