Superintendent Proposes A 5.76 Percent School Budget Increase

By Eliza Hallabeck

Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson told the Board of Education and a nearly full room of school officials and members of the public at The Newtown Municipal Center on Tuesday, January 25, she was presenting her proposed superintendent’s budget a little differently this year.

Tuesday’s meeting marked the first of five meetings the school board is scheduled to have before it adopts its budget on February 8. Board of Education Chair William Hart noted during the meeting that a discussion and “full-fledged” public hearing was added to the budget schedule for Thursday, February 3.

 “We believe it is our goal to advocate for what we believe is the best for our students,” said Dr Robinson when starting her budget presentation. “Newtown has enjoyed quality schools and expects a continuous pursuit of quality. But we also need to be sensitive to the needs of the community to hold down expenditures. So what we have been tested to do, last year, this year, and the upcoming year, is to balance the reality of our recession economy…with the quality of education that is expected in Newtown.”

Things that influence the expected expenditures, she said, include enrollment, which will decrease in the district next year by just under 100 students; class size, which will go from 22.4 students per teacher in 2010-11 to 22 students per teacher in 2011-12; district performance compared to its District Reference Group (DRG), which is a group of 21 like towns designated by the state; contractual obligations; energy costs; transportation costs; health insurance; uncertain state funding; and unpredictable special education funding.

Dr Robinson said the 5.76 percent increase includes both items to hold the school board at a “status quo” budget and items like full-day kindergarten and staff increases at the high school. The 2010-11 school budget was $67,194,734, and the proposed 2011-12 budget is $71,064,134. To have schools remain at a status quo budget, Dr Robinson said the 2011-12 budget would need to be $69,670,343.

“We are at this point 7.5 percent below the average cost per pupil in DRG B [Newtown’s DRG],” said Dr Robinson. She also pointed out that Greenwich, the town with the highest per pupil spending in DRG B, is considerably higher than the other towns. With Greenwich removed from the list, Newtown is still 4.6 percent below the average per pupil spending.

Dr Robinson also presented CMT results from the last three years to show how the district has a goal of being in the top three testing schools in its DRG. The school district will also continue working on its strategic plan over the next year, according to Dr Robinson.

Before presenting items she believes are imperative to running the school district, Dr Robinson spoke to her status quo budget.

“To keep the programs the same with no initiatives we are using a zero-based budget building process,” said Dr Robinson. “Which means that we build the budget from the bottom up. We make no assumptions. We just carry over what we already have and add a percentage to it.”

Exactly the same services and resources will be offered to the students in 2011-12 than were offered in 2010-11, according to Dr Robinson.

Reductions in next year’s proposed budget include a part-time psychologist, noncertified salaries, and noncertified salary positions.

Added back to the budget, due to grants, are 2.2 certified salaries, and a special education program called Project Succeed, Dr Robinson said.

Costs associated with energy, oil, transportation, and other areas in the budget are expected to rise for next year, according to Dr Robinson. Energy alone is expected to rise by 7.3 percent over the 2010-11 budget.

“This status quo budget projects an increase of 3.68 percent,” said Dr Robinson, “which is a total of $1,475,600. That’s the budget that has no increased services. It’s carrying forward what we have this year.”

‘Urgent Needs’

Newtown, she said, currently provides quality education, and the district intends to continue that endeavor.

“To that effect, I have included some recommended additions,” said Dr Robinson. “I call these urgent needs for our district in Newtown.”

Those needs are full-day kindergarten, which is estimated to cost a net total of $305,000; an increase of high school staff to meet student needs at the high school, estimated to cost $346,300; restoring the technology budget, estimated at $169,300; and restoring maintenance costs to the budget, for $573,500.

Staff requests at the high school include as assistant principal, an English teacher, a math teacher, a history teacher, a shared secretary position, a part-time math teacher for the FLEX program, and a part-time English language instructor, which is an unfunded mandate. The staff increases, she said, would help alleviate shortages of class offerings and prepare the school for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges recommendations.

“Our buildings are used night and day,” said Dr Robinson, speaking to her rationale to restore deferred maintenance items in previous budgets. “We are community centers… and buildings of this and continuous usage tend to need significantly more maintenance than typical office-type buildings.”

The initiatives add a total of $1,393,800 to the status quo budget, Dr Robinson said.

“If we were to move forward with the needs presented here in the status quo plus the other needs, it would raise the budget 5.76 percent,” Dr Robinson said. “So you have options here. You have what a status quo budget looks like. You know what it is that I recommend we need to move forward, and I believe that it is important that the board and the town and community face some decisions about where they would like the school district to go.”

No members of the school board asked Dr Robinson questions during Tuesday’s meeting. Board of Education Chair William Hart reminded his board that the members will have many other chances to pose questions to Dr Robinson regarding her proposed budget.

Other topics during the meeting included discussion and the approval of the school district’s 2011-12 calendar. To read more about the calendar, see the related story elsewhere in this issue of The Bee.

A full audio recording and video highlights of the meeting is available at www.newtownbee.com.