Newtown High School Presents 2002-2003 Budget To School Board

By Tanjua Damon

Newtown High School presented its 2002-2003 budget of $802,576 to the Board of Education Tuesday night, beginning the school budget season.

Principal William Manfredonia presented an eight percent increase from last year’s budget. Four percent comes from additional spending for supplies and other items, and four percent comes from an increase of student population expected next year at the high school.

There are 400 freshman expected to enter the high school for the 2002-2003 school year, Mr Manfredonia said. There are 1,374 students enrolled currently. Next year enrollment will be approximately 1,450.

The high school budget includes various staff requests including three full-time teachers for English, math, and social studies as well as part-time faculty for music, chemistry, and French. The budget also calls for a full-time clerk for the Math/Social Studies/World Language Departments. Mr Manfredonia is also asking for a part-time dean of students.

“This would alleviate day-to-day road activities” for the school’s administrators, Mr Manfredonia said of the dean of students position. “It will allow us to concentrate more on curriculum and standards.”

The part-time music teacher would help provide students an opportunity to take music without being in a performing group. Currently a third of the students at the high school are in a performing group so a teacher cannot be moved to teach something else.

Almost 50 percent of the budget is for supplies. The biggest budget increase item is for various equipment items. Last year $20,748 was used for equipment. This year the school is asking for $38,055 for equipment needs including a euphonium and a baby grand piano ($13,500) for the music department; an elliptical and aqua rower ($4,500) for physical education; a thermocycler ($2,000) for the science department; a plotter ($2,000) for the tech ed department; a Leightronix, two modulators and a digital camera ($12,500) for the AV and Channel 17; and a roll-away backstop ($1,900) for sports.

The high school budget also includes various technology requests including two digital cameras, five LCD projectors, a bar code scanner, six Averkey connections, 80 laptops with wireless hub, three PCs with CD writer, six Macs, and an engineering study for wireless mapping.

The 80 laptops would be spread out around the school, according to Assistant Principal Jules Triber. Currently the high school is working to have wireless hub stations to provide computer access to students since space is lacking for additional computer labs. Thirty laptops would be used to finish the first wireless hub, ten would be provided to the science department, 30 would be used to provide two more departments with laptops and ten would be used in the library for student use.

The high school budget last year was $740,472, an increase of $62,134 for this year.