Feb 28, 2008
SCHOOLS:
Board cuts $200,000, OKs $77 million, up 5.5%
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With a $200,000 reduction to energy accounts and strong support voiced from the public, Superintendent Deborah Low won the school board’s unanimous approval Monday of a nearly $77-million school budget proposal.
“It’s moves the district forward, but not at a great leap,” Ms. Low said of the budget. “...It’s very modest.”
The energy reduction — to be accomplished partly by closing the Scotts Ridge building for the summer — brought the budget down to the $76.7 million.
That trimmed the percentage increase over the current year’s $72.7-million budget from 5.82% to 5.54%.
The $200,000 reduction to projected energy costs was “maybe not as conservative or cautious as we might be, but not risky or foolish, either,” Ms. Low told the board.
“I do this because it does not touch program priorities. It does not hurt programs. It does not hurt the modest priorities.”
While school officials might want to “hold our breath a little on energy,” she said, “...I wholeheartedly encourage you to approve this budget.”
Tax implications
The board-approved school budget will now move on for review and a recommendation by the selectmen, then review and possible adjustment by the Board of Finance.
The finance board’s combined town and school budget — and recommended tax rate — will come before town voters at a referendum in early May.
A joint meeting of the selectmen, finance and school boards last week had tallied up requested spending increases — Ms. Low’s 5.82% for schools, and 6.26% for town departments — to project a 4.61% tax increase.
To bring that within the general inflation rate of 3% to 3.5%, they said, would require cutting about $1.2 million from town and school budgets.
With the $200,000 reduction to school energy costs, Monday night’s budget approval narrowed that gap to about $1 million.
The school board also voted 5-4 Monday to suggest to the finance board that reductions to next year’s taxes might be accomplished by drawing on the town’s $8.6-million surplus fund balance — as opposed to cutting the school budget.
That split vote did not reflect disagreement over the goal so much as differing views on the tactical wisdom of making unsolicited suggestions to the finance board.
Priorities
The “modest priorities” in the budget that Ms. Low spoke of preserving include:
- Increasing the number of paraprofessionals to help kids having trouble with math — 2.5 positions are added, bringing the total to six, one “math para” per elementary school.
- Beginning a three-year phase-out of the $225-per-sport “pay to play” fees charged to high school athletes. The make-up cost to taxpayers would be $130,000 next year;
- Replacing the schools’ underlying “data management system,” which handles everything from attendance records to report cards to state test scores, at a cost of about $100,000;
- Adding more pre-engineering courses to the high school’s Project Lead the Way initiative started this year;
- Completing the introduction of Mandarin Chinese as a middle school language by offering it to eighth graders who started it two years ago as sixth graders.
Some board members, it was clear, worried that the budget was too modest.
“I’m going to support the budget but I have to say I do believe it’s low and there are a number of areas we’re falling behind,” board member Lyn Merrill said.
“We’re constantly compared to DRG-A,” she said, referring to top suburban school systems that the state groups Ridgefield with demographically.
“The gap between us and the DRG-A towns will continue to increase,” Ms. Merrill said. “Don’t delude yourselves about that.”
Public support
Earlier, during public comments, parent Michael Lordi had said that Ms. Low’s proposed increase was lower than the board-approved increases in virtually all the surrounding DRG-A towns: Wilton, 6.28%; New Canaan, 6.35%; Darien, 6.63%, Redding, 5.92%; Weston, 5.48%.
Mr. Lordi was one of nine speakers to address the board Monday — eight in support of the budget, and one urging use of window tint to reduce energy loss. Several of the pro-budget speakers said they were willing to accept the tax consequences of the school spending.
There was an identical count — nine speakers, eight in favor of Ms. Low’s request — at Saturday morning’s formal budget public hearing. (See other story.)
A week before, at hearing on Monday night, Feb. 11, three speakers has supported the budget, and two town officials had discussed potential savings.
Board secretary Sandi Rose said Monday that the board had received 88 e-mails in support of the budget, and two opposing the level of spending.
Board members listened.
“The overwhelming majority of comments we got are ‘You have to pass the budget,’ ” said Richard Steinhart. “...It is our job to advocate for the kids.”
“I’m 100% behind this budget,” said Russell Katz.
“The function of the board is to provide the best possible education,” said Kathy McGerald. “...I share Lyn’s concern that there’s not enough here.”
Ms. McGerald listed several priorities that she said needed to be addressed but had been left out of the budget to keep from overburdening taxpayers.
Her missing priorities included lowering class sizes in third through fifth grades, more guidance help at the high school, more attention to the inclusion of special education students, the creation of literacy coordinator and science coordinator positions.
Energy concerns
The $200,000 energy reduction comes in the context of Ms. Low’s original proposal to address the district’s chronic underfinancing of energy accounts by increasing the allocation for “electricity and energy management” from about $2,084,000 to $2,529,000 — a boost of $446,000 or 21%.
Ms. Low had backed that up with showing that electricity costs had run over budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars each of the last four years: $562,000 or 35% in 2004-05, $357,000 or 13% in 2005-06, $303,000 or 11% in 2006-07, and $469,000 or 16% projected for 2007-08.
Concerns the $200,000 energy reduction might be leaving the board exposed were expressed by board members Monday night, and discussed by Board Chairman Keith Miller in an e-mail Tuesday.
“This was the result of a month-long detailed examination of all aspects of operations as well as collaborative meetings with the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance to understand the town’s financial capacity,” he said.
“As a result of this work, the superintendent proposed a $200,000 reduction to her originally proposed budget, which consisted of a reduction in the energy cost growth rate from 11% to 2%, offset by some minor adjustments in other areas.
“We are depending upon stable rates, continued reductions in consumption resulting from our work with Energy Management, and closing much of Scotts Ridge Middle School during the summer. Rate stability is critical because our 15% consumption reductions for this year have been consumed by 15% rate increases, which have resulted in running an estimated $159,616 or 6% over budget in the current year...
“The superintendent and staff have diligently cooperated to answer all questions,” Mr. Miller, “and deserve our praise and gratitude for bringing forth the most transparent budget we have seen in years.”
Monday night’s unanimous approval vote was greeted with a round of applause from the crowd, and the mood was congratulatory.
“Thanks, everybody, for their work on the budget,” Ms. Low said.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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