East Lyme ― Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Newton is pitching a $60.96 million budget for 2024-25 that includes a request for two new positions spurred by increasing numbers of special education students and English language learners.

Two elementary school teachers who are retiring will not be replaced. The resulting budget represents an increase of 5.48% over the current spending plan, with 4.19% of the total increase due to employee salaries and benefits.

“There’s always a story to every budget,” Newton said. “The story this year, and we feel good about this, is it’s a fairly straightforward budget.”

Last year’s budget’s started out like a horror story that threatened 18.5 teaching positions before the district found $475,000 in savings from updated health insurance figures. Ultimately, everyone kept their jobs as employees were shuffled around to account for about half as many cuts as originally proposed.

Newton’s spending plan this time around allocates a total of $161,884 to cover one special education teacher as well as a multi-language teacher for students whose primary language is not English. The budget also estimates at least $150,000 to roll out a new, state-mandated reading curriculum and contemplates bringing back middle school soccer, volleyball and cheerleading.

He presented the proposal to the Board of Education at its regular meeting last week.

Special ed placing strain on the budget

Director of Student Services Kimberly Davis said the number of special education students is trending up.

“My staff tell me there must be a billboard somewhere that says ‘come to East Lyme if you need special education support,’ which I am both proud of and humbled by,” she said. “But I understand the stress that can put on our system.”

Special education students comprise 19% of the district’s total enrollment. The statewide average is 16.7%.

Officials are predicting 176 special education students in the middle school. There are currently only two special education teachers there.

Data from the Connecticut State Department of Education shows the district in 2021-22 spent $13.6 million, or 24.1% of its operating budget, on special education.

A focus on reading

Davis said adding a multi-language teaching position will allow the district to dedicate one full-time teacher to each of the three grade levels: elementary, middle school and high school. She said state norms require an additional teacher for every 40 students.

There are currently 108 students for whom English is not the first language.

Davis said the district is two students below the state-mandated threshold that would trigger the need for bilingual programming at the middle school. There are 18 Spanish-speaking students in grades five through eight currently.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Annaliese Spaziano said it will cost at least $150,000 to implement a new reading curriculum for kindergarten through third grade as required by the state education department.

“Right to Read” legislation passed back in 2021 by state lawmakers. The town received a $82,000 grant to help offset costs of the requirement.

The district plans to start its third pilot program in January before selecting the curriculum. She said the program could cost as much as $225,000 depending on which option they choose, but she remains comfortable asking for $150,000 with the understanding it could be phased in over two years if it ends up costing more.

Class sizes, middle school sports

Newton said elementary class sizes will remain within district guidelines despite not replacing one teacher at Niantic Center School and one at Flanders Elementary School. Those guidelines call for no more than 18 students in a kindergarten class.

Numbers show two kindergarten teachers at Niantic Center School are anticipating an average of 17.5 students per class. Meanwhile, kindergarten at Flanders will average 11 students across three classrooms.

“There could be some movement within there,” he said. “If we get a few more kids, we might have to come back to the table and have some further discussions.”

Middle school sports will be the subject of discussion at the school board’s Jan. 22 meeting, according to the superintendent. His proposal allocates $10,644 for the stipends for soccer, volleyball and cheerleading coaches.

“We put it in the budget for now,” he said.

Newton initially proposed his budget at $61.3 million, or 6.08% over the current budget. But that number assumed a 10% increase in health insurance costs.

He said the district has been advised to plan for an increase between 3% and 7% over current costs. Budgeting for a 8% increase instead of 10% saves $152,296.

“I would not recommend any further staffing reductions or program reductions because it would have an impact,” he said. “The budget that we put forward will give us everything that we need.”

e.regan@theday.com