ANSONIA – The Ansonia Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday (Jan. 28) to adopt a $39.5 million budget with a 2.4 percent spending increase.

The budget as adopted asks for $39,535,903 for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. That’s a $923,004 increase over the current budget of $38,612,089.

It now heads to Mayor Frank Tyszka’s office, who is required to present his own proposed budget for the city and schools to the board of apportionment and taxation (BOAT) in February. 

Either of those bodies could alter the school budget’s bottom line.

The spending increases are driven by increases in employee benefits costs (a $1,191,416 increase over last year) and tuition fees for special education students who attend out-of-district schools (a $1,104,220 increase), according to documents previously shared at school board meetings.

At the same time, the budget as-is would make a $749,057 cut to salaries, compared to current funding levels. Those cuts come from five eliminated administrative positions, as well as funding some positions through grants which were previously funded by the city.

The budget keeps staffing levels the same inside each of the schools.

“What we tried to do would make the most responsible budget that cuts as far away from the classroom as possible,” Ansonia Public Schools Superintendent Joseph DiBacco said in the meeting.

The administrative positions eliminated are director of grants, assistant director of special education, director of communications, director of social-emotional learning, and director of summer after-school programming, according to DiBacco.

DiBacco said at a prior meeting that those positions were created by COVID-19 era grants which have since expired.

School board president Christopher Phipps said in Wednesday’s meeting that the board had initially considered a budget which would have asked for a six percent spending increase. 

Getting the budget passed could be an uphill battle for the board of education. Tyszka said at a recent BOAT meeting that he may lower the schools’ budget from the requested 2.4 percent spending increase, saying the city is in a precarious financial situation.

Last year, the school board’s initial proposed budget was trimmed by about $949,000 after it failed to win voter support at three referendums. The city budget also failed at each of those referendums.

After BOAT adopts a budget for the city and schools, it will go to the Board of Aldermen for further revisions and final approval. 

If the budget contains an increase in ‘net taxes to be collected’ of more than three percent, it will also require approval from voters at referendum.

The current fiscal year runs through June 30. The proposed budget would kick into effect July 1 and run through June 30, 2027.