Board of Education members approved the 2025-26 Education budget adoption in a 5-2 vote, with amendments reinstating the K-6 Spanish Program after recommended offsets, during their Tuesday, February 4 meeting. The budget totals $92,644,644, a 5.99 percent increase from last year’s budget.

This comes after Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti first presented the proposed 2025-26 budget during the BOE’s January 14 meeting. BOE members discussed the budget proposal further during meetings on January 28 and 30, with opportunities at each meeting for community members to share their opinions during public participation.

From here, the budget will go to the Board of Finance and Legislative Council for review and approval before it is voted on by Newtown residents at referendum.

The amendment to reinstate the K-6 Spanish Program into the budget passed in a unanimous vote, and an amendment to accept offsets recommended by Uberti to reinstate the aforementioned program passed in a 5-1 vote at the meeting.

This offsets package, which Uberti first presented at the January 30 BOE meeting, includes: $103,000 for radio upgrades, $65,085 for the reduction of three paraeducators, a $34,000 reduction in facilities projects, $34,000 for four employees that are retiring early but not taking the cash retirement incentive, $20,000 for professional services for evaluations, and $10,000 in homebound tutoring at the high school.

It’s worth noting that the aforementioned three paraeducator positions are currently unfilled, meaning that no one would be losing their job.

The offsets total $266,085, which Uberti noted on January 30 as not being a full offset of the K-6 Spanish Program, which costs $291,696. However, she said that the offsets would result in enough savings so that their new total increase would be 5.99 percent from 5.96 percent.

BOE member Brian Leonardi asked about his inquiry from the January 30 meeting, where he suggested evaluating the $60,000 increase for staff training to help offset reinstating the K-6 Spanish Program.

Uberti said that she gave the suggestion a lot of consideration, but feels that they’ve made many reductions to incorporate items built into the budget designed to improve curriculum and instruction.

“And I think a big part of that is staff training, so I would not recommend any additional reductions at this time,” Uberti said.

While the budget includes the reduction of 28.11 full-time equivalent positions, Uberti noted that this does not translate into 28 layoffs due to position reallocations and early retirement.

“I made it clear in my presentations that things like early retirement were offered in order to reduce the number of people who would not have jobs, but there are people whose jobs are being eliminated and will therefore have to seek employment in other districts,” Uberti said. “But it is not 28 [layoffs].”

K-6 Spanish Program

The BOE voted to bring the K-6 Spanish Program back into the budget after large public outreach in support of the program, notably from local parents.

BOE member Chris Gilson said during Tuesday’s meeting they received between 125 and 150 emails from local parents after Board members announced cost cutting measures to see where they could find room in the budget.

Many of these emails, he said, detailed how they believe the program benefits their children and that early language exposure provides valuable tangible and intangible learning for students as they age.

Gilson said that he was impressed with the outreach from the public and their expertise in citing research and articles supporting the K-6 Spanish Program, and that the program is something that neighboring districts are looking to implement into their own school systems.

He noted that the program needs a little work, but that they will look into including it into the BOE’s Curriculum and Instruction Subcommittee to make improvements moving forward.

“This is a program that we already have running in our district,” Gilson said. “I think it’s something that a lot of our parents want to see. It brings value to our district, and I’d appreciate it if we kept it in our budget.”

Several other BOE members noted being touched by these emails at the January 30 meeting, with Uberti adding that they are all here to represent the parents.

“And I do feel that it was enlightening to me to hear what parents have to say,” Uberti continued. “They value the program, and there’s just no way we can deny that they value that program. And I think it would be difficult to move forward removing it.”

Opinions From Board Members

BOE members Deborra Zukowski and Brian Leonardi voted in opposition of the budget adoption.

Zukowski said that she supported the addition of elementary assistant principals and the inclusion of a Spanish language offering in the district’s primary schools. However, Zukowski voiced her concerns regarding the fiscal responsibility of the budget.

She noted an executive director at the School + State Finance Project, an organization that ensures equitable education funding for Connecticut students, said that Newtown has many fixed income households and has seen an increase in single parent/guardian households, as well as a higher percentage of students eligible for free or reduced priced meals.

Given these trends, Zukowski said that it is important for BOE members to ensure their budget ask is “as low as possible” without compromising important educational programming, especially when they are faced with an unprecedented increase in costs for health benefits.

“I will simply say that I do not support the motion at hand,” Zukowski said.

Leonardi said that he appreciates all the work that went into evaluating the budget, and that the revisions are well intentioned and keep the best interests of students and faculty in mind. However, he echoed Zukowski’s concerns, noting that there’s been some unwillingness to make modifications or probe into certain areas.

Leonardi said that he was especially concerned that the BOE will need to reconvene at the end of April and early May and have to look for more cuts. He added that he doesn’t think this budget will make it past referendum, particularly when they are facing several economic headwinds.

“So for those reasons, I’m also struggling to support the current budget proposal as stated here tonight,” Leonardi said.

BOE member John Vouros spoke next and said that it’s important for everyone to understand that the budget was put together with the best interests of the children and faculty, adding that parents will understand that the budget is “sincere” and that they will support it.

“I’m not saying that it won’t pass. That’s not for us to say. That’s for us as stewards of these children to make sure they’re getting the best that we can offer, and then let the parents make that decision,” Vouros said.

Vouros then encouraged the public to continue following the budget process, and to write in support of the K-6 Spanish Program.

BOE member Doria Linnetz noted that eliminating roles, particularly those currently filled, is never easy, and said that these decisions are always difficult. Linnetz thanked staff members for their continued professionalism and student-focused contributions, and that she can only imagine how difficult it is to hear roles discussed as part of the budget process.

Linnetz said that it would’ve been easy to present a “status quo budget” given the unprecedented increases in health care and energy costs, but that this budget reflects a lot of public input and proposes important roles with student outcomes at the forefront. She added that the team balanced these needs with fiscal responsibility, and carefully evaluated opportunities for offsets in the budget while delivering high quality outcomes for the community.

“I believe this budget is responsible, balanced, and most importantly student-centered, and as a result should be supported,” Linnetz said.

BOE Chair Alison Plante said that she agreed wholeheartedly with Linnetz. She added that the budget, now a 5.99 percent increase over the current year, is quite large, and that she doesn’t think any of them are “shying away from that.”

After their deliberation about that over the last few weeks, Plante said that she believes the budget can be a big number but also achieve what it needs to.

“[And that’s] not only to act as good stewards for our taxpayers, but also to act as good stewards for the kids, and to make the investments that we need to make to also drive student achievement forward,” Plante said.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.