The Board of Education unanimously approved its 2021-22 budget at its February 2 virtual meeting as $80,682,470, a 2.58 percent or a $2,030,694 increase from the current budget.

The school district’s budget will now move forward in the process of being reviewed by the Board of Finance and Legislative Council before going to referendum.

As previously reported in The Newtown Bee, the superintendent’s proposed 2021-22 $81,080,697 budget represented a 3.09 percent or $2,428,921 increase from the current spending package. Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue shared an overview of the proposal at the Board of Education’s January 19 virtual meeting.

Since then, the school board inspected the budget over the course of multiple meetings. A public hearing on the budget was held on January 28, and no members of the public spoke at that meeting. However, during the public participation portion of the February 2 meeting, two members of the public questioned the discontinuation of Newtown Middle School’s Family and Consumer Science class, as discussed in recent meetings connected to a pending staff retirement and an approved new master schedule for the school for the 2021-22 school year.

After inspecting the budget and asking questions of administrators and department heads at meetings over the last couple of weeks, Board of Education members had the opportunity to make motions to adjust the budget on February 2 before it was finally approved.

Some budget reductions were approved first. Those reflected both technical adjustments made since the superintendent first presented her budget and new information regarding state funding from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds II (ESSER II), which can be applied through 2023, according to Dr Rodrigue.

Board of Education member Rebekah Harriman-Stites later made a motion to add $35,000 to the proposed budget to hire consultants to support the district’s ongoing diversity and equity efforts and a planned teaching and practices audit.

“This would continue the work that has been started and put us in a place where we’re ready to plan for and begin the curriculum and teaching practices equity audit, recognizing that it is a large project and we have a lot of other pieces to put in place and work to continue before we can start that work,” said Harriman-Stites.

Saying the diversity and equity efforts are an “important endeavor,” board member Debbie Leidlein said she, too, had been ready to make the motion to add the funds in question to the budget.

“I’m in full support of this motion,” Leidlein said.

The board unanimously supported the motion.

Before the board voted on its final budget, Vice Chair Dan Delia made motions in support of funding painting classrooms at Hawley Elementary School, but those motions failed.

And with that, the school board voted and unanimously approved its budget for the total of $80,682,470, which is $398,227 less than the superintendent’s proposed 2021-22 budget. The school district’s 2020-21 current budget is $78,651,776, or 2.58 percent less than the school board’s approved 2021-22 budget.