East Lyme ― The Board of Education this week decided unanimously to reinstate $1 million in staffing positions that the superintendent initially wanted to cut.

The $58.9 million education budget approved Monday night represents an increase of $4.8 million, or 8.8%, over the current budget. The spending plan leaves 18.5 staffing positions intact, adding to the initially proposed 6.9% increase described by Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Newton as the highest he’d put forth in his eight years steering the district.

The school board is scheduled to present its budget on March 13 to the Board of Selectmen, which can make comments, and then on March 28 to the Board of Finance, which can make cuts to the bottom line. It is up to the school board to decide what specific items to cut if the bottom line is reduced. The town and education budgets are then combined and sent to a town vote on May 18.

Board of Education member Bill Derry said that approving a budget that saves the staffing positions – without any cuts to mitigate the cost – is an effort to “put the baseline closer to where it needs to be” in the face of possible cuts by the Board of Finance. School board members this year have repeatedly expressed reluctance to eliminate any expenses that directly affect students and teachers.

Finance Director Kevin Gervais has estimated the combined school board and town budget proposal would result in an increase of roughly $500 for a home assessed at $300,000.

The positions restored in the school board budget include four elementary school teachers, three technology teachers, two of four positions in the high school-level career exploration program known as Coastal Connections, five paraeducators, roughly four library assistant positions and one district-wide instructional technology coach.

Seven of the positions on the chopping block were funded by federal pandemic-relief funds.

Selectmen were set to vote on First Selectmen Kevin Seery’s recommendation late Wednesday night. When presenting his own budget last month, Seery admitted his proposal didn’t go far enough in trimming the list of budget requests from town department heads.

Seery’s initial proposal for the town budget came in at $21.8 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 6.49%, over the current budget.

Deferred maintenance

School board member Candice Carlson called for cuts to proposed repair projects to help make up for maintaining staffing levels. She said she was okay with being the only person on the school board actively calling for reductions.

“There are definitely things on that project list that could be held off and they do not have to be pushed through right now, in my opinion,” she said.

She was also the only person during Monday night’s deliberations to broach the subject of higher-level staffing cuts.

“If someone’s asking about teachers, then we need to talk about administration,” she said.

The school board had previously asked for more information on the proposed projects’ budget as well as administration roles and salaries, but members indicated no appetite for cuts during the final deliberations.

Maintenance needs amounting to $139,377 include a roofing study for Lillie B. Haynes School, carpeting replacements, converting folding walls to fixed walls, and a vehicle shed, according to budget documents.

School board chairman Eric Bauman said holding off on repairs now means costs will pile up costs later.

“Let’s say there’s $50,000 we defer,” he said of a rounded $130,000 projects’ budget. “Then the following year is $180,000. And if we defer another $50,000, does it become $230,000?”

And then “it becomes a number we can’t manage,” Bauman added.

Derry said he favored “getting the baseline closer to where it needs to be” by presenting a budget that meets the needs of students and teachers. But he acknowledged any calls for cuts as the process moves forward could force tough decisions between staffing positions and maintenance projects.

“If this doesn’t go forward and we are looking at people and carpet, that’s a different conversation, and I will agree with you, Candice,” he said. “But we are not there right now.”

e.regan@theday.com