Montville ― The school board Tuesday night voted unanimously to approve a $45.5 million school budget, representing a 4.53% increase over the current budget.

The spending plan, which the Town Council will now consider, is $62,800 higher than Superintendent of Schools Laurie Pallin’s budget request, which she pitched to the board on Feb. 27.

Most of that increase came from adding $60,000 to the budget to hire more full-time paraprofessionals to help fill 19 part-time paraprofessional vacancies. Pallin estimated that the sum would enable the school system to hire 12 additional paraprofessionals.

Other changes in the budget resulted in an increase of $2,800.

The Town Council will now review the school budget and can make changes at an April 25 meeting in the high school auditorium.

“We can defend every piece of this all day long,” school board Chairman Wills Pike said of the budget.