After three budget workshop meetings, the Board of Education finished hearing reports from representatives of the different areas of the superintendent’s proposed 2015-16 budget at its workshop meeting on Tuesday, January 13. The next step for the budget will be a public hearing on February 3.

Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, presented his proposed 2015-16 operating budget to the school board on Tuesday, January 6, as $72,399,186, a 1.48 percent increase over the current budget of $71,345,304.

Since that first workshop meeting, the school board has been hearing from district leadership regarding the different parts of the budget. By Tuesday all portions of the budget had been presented to the school board.

The school board has slated a public hearing and discussion on the budget during a workshop meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 3, before it is set to adopt its budget on Thursday, February 5. The school board also has a regular meeting set for this coming Tuesday, January 20.

Newtown High School

When Newtown High School Principal Lorrie Rodrigue spoke before the school board on Thursday, January 8, she said her school’s proposed budget is fiscally responsible “through the lens of meeting the needs of all learners.”

Dr Rodrigue also addressed some changes that were proposed in the 2015-16 budget. At the high school those include an academic officer at NHS, funding a guidance position at NHS that was previously funded by the School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant, stipends for Newtown International Center for Education (NICE) program expansion, and athletic coaches for the NHS track, gymnastics, and girls’ golf teams.

The requested academic officer, Dr Rodrigue explained, would be a teacher leadership position that would be responsible to develop and implement services designed to help students, specifically students who are struggling and in danger of failing. The person would be working with students and would report to Dr Rodrigue directly, she said.

Newtown Middle School

Newtown Middle School Principal Thomas Einhorn told school board members on January 8 that the proposed budget for his school supports academic and social/emotional growth for students while being fiscally responsible.

Mr Einhorn also addressed an increase in the budget for supplies and contracted services. The increase in supplies, Mr Einhorn said, is equipment that needs to be replaced. He hopes that some of the increases can be offset by grants.

The 1.3 full-time equivalent positions in art, music, and physical education that are proposed to be reduced at NMS, Mr Einhorn said, are directly related to enrollment. The principal said all of the programs and opportunities for students will not be affected by the changes.

When asked about the school-based health center being added at the middle school now, Mr Einhorn told the school board it will be a self-sustaining program, so there is no line item for it in the budget.

Reed Intermediate School

Reed Intermediate School Principal Anne Uberti was asked to address staffing reductions at her school for the 2015-16 school year when she appeared before the board on Tuesday, January 8.

“None of the cuts represent any programming changes,” Ms Uberti said.

Dr Erardi said the staffing reductions are directly connected to fewer classes, due to a projected enrollment decline.

“The reduction does not impact student time at all,” said Dr Erardi, in response to board member David Freedman asking about the physical education staffing reduction specifically.

Four full-time equivalent positions at Reed are proposed to be reduced in the 2015-16 budget. The positions are in art, music, physical education, and classroom teachers.

The Elementary Schools

After saying she supported Dr Erardi’s description of how his 2015-16 budget is a product of teamwork, Head O’ Meadow Principal Barbara Gasparine told the board on January 6, “I feel comfortable this year coming before the board.”

Ms Gasparine also explained room will be needed at her school to create another third and another fourth grade classroom. In order to make space, Ms Gasparine said it has been requested that the district’s prekindergarten program be moved elsewhere.

School board members asked the elementary principals a range of questions, including how many paraeducators work at each of the elementary schools.

Following up on January 13, Dr Erardi presented the school board with the total number of paraeducators at each of the elementary schools, both in the schools’ libraries and classrooms. Hawley, Sandy Hook, and Head O’ Meadow each have eight; Middle Gate has ten.

Pupil Personnel, Health, And Special Education Budgets

Director of Pupil Services Julie Haggard spoke about the pupil personnel, health, and special education budgets proposed for 2015-16 on Thursday, January 8.

Along with answering questions about a number of topics, Ms Haggard also gave an overview of changes for the 2015-16 budget for the board.

Special education referrals are continuing to rise, according to Ms Haggard. While overall enrollment is decreasing, she said the number of identified special education students is increasing. Along with the increasing student needs, Ms Haggard noted that time spent servicing students and identifying students with needs is also increasing.

The increases are not unique to Newtown. According to Ms Haggard districts across the state are seeing increased out of district student placements.

According to Dr Erardi’s presentation on January 6, the special education and pupil personnel budget increase for the 2015-16 year is $436,457, or .61 percent of the budget’s overall proposed increase.

Ms Haggard said the proposed special education supervisor at NHS, which would replace as existing position, is “a significant need.”

Along with helping to service the students, Ms Haggard said the new position would help bring coherence, consistency, and vertical alignment for the district.

“This type of administrative leadership,” said Ms Haggard, “working shoulder to shoulder with administrative staff and families will also help redesign programming, intervention, and procedures and processes to continue to ensure that we meet the increasing demands set before us.”

Curriculum, Technology, Security, And Plant Operations

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Gejda presented the curriculum budget to the school board on Tuesday, January 13.

She explained the curriculum budget represents the skills and knowledge presented to students at each school level, professional development, resources for teaching and learning, and curriculum and districtwide assessments.

Dr Gejda said the curriculum focus will continue to be on the literacy program, specifically for kindergarten through eighth grade. She also said other reviews and efforts will continues.

When she spoke before the school board on January 13, Director of Technology Carmella Amodeo explained the school district has had an “obsolescence” plan to replace computers and laptops every seven years, staggering each school in the district to a different year. That plan, she said, has been in practice since 1999.

“As we progress in our usage of technology and our demands on technology, the need for it to be operating efficiently and quickly… we’re finding the older the equipment is, the longer it takes to complete a task,” said Ms Amodeo.

The added demands are making the timing difference more pronounced, according to Ms Amodeo, so the district is looking to make its computers and laptops operate more efficiently for both students and staff by now replacing the technology every six years.

Director of Facilities Gino Faiella explained there are some increases in the Plant Operations and Maintenance budget, including custodial equipment, furniture replacement requests for Head O’ Meadow Elementary School, and new folding tables and chairs for Hawley Elementary School.

He also discussed building improvement projects that are in the 2015-16 budget that have also been presented in the past, which include an acoustical ceiling replacement, carpeting replacement requests, and installing drinking fountain in Reed’s cafeteria, and completing a roof replacement at Newtown Middle School that did not get replaced when the roof was replaced in 2011.

When discussing the general services area of the budget, Business Director Ron Bienkowski pointed out an 18.05 percent decrease from the current year.

After discussing a number of areas under the general services budget, Mr Bienkowski turned the discussion toward security.

“What this includes is one more security guard in addition to what our current staff is,” said Mr Bienkowski. He also said three guards will continue to be paid for by the School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant.

The security budget also includes staff training, maintenance for security cameras and other technology, and additional equipment to increase surveillance.

The school board has posted the entire proposed 2015-16 spending plan on the school district’s website (newtown.k12.ct.us).