School leaders urged the tax board Tuesday to consider the long-term ramifications of a school budget that, in their opinion, underfunds Derby Public Schools.
Derby schools asked for roughly $18.5 million to run the district next year (2010 – 2011).
Last week the tax board set the school’s spending plan at $17.5 million.
That is $1 million less than what the school wanted, but still an increase of about $227,000 from this year’s school budget.
However, Superintendent Stephen Tracy, school board president Ken Marcucio, Sr. and school board member Kimberly Kreiger said the tax board’s recommendation would undermine progress the district has been trying to make.
If a $17.5 million budget was to be adopted, nine teachers would be laid off, Tracy said.
In addition, more athletic programs would be eliminated, teachers would no longer receive training and the district would have to go back to half-day kindergarten.
Those would be just some of the consequences school leaders said told the tax board during a “department feedback workshop” in Derby City Hall.
The meeting was a last chance for municipal department heads, the school district and the tax board to talk about the 2010 – 2011 spending plan.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Wednesday (May 19) at 7 p.m. on the second floor of Derby City Hall.
The Budget Now
The tax board is scheduled to adopt a budget next week.
Under the plan on the table right now, the municipal side of the budget totals $17.3 million — an increase in spending over the current city budget by about 5.4 percent.
If the combined school and municipal budgets are approved, the tax rate in Derby would increase by 1 mill, officials said, from 26.4 to 27.4.
A property assessed at $185,000 now pays about $4,884 in taxes.
If the budget is adopted as is, that same property owner would pay $5,069 next year.
That is an increased tax bill of $185.
To calculate your potential tax bill, multiply your property’s assessment by the mill rate, then divide by 1,000.
Schools Need More
The tenor of Tuesday’s discussion wasn’t confrontational.
“It’s really all of us against the problem of limited resources and high ambitions for our city’s children,” Tracy said.
Still, Tracy said the city lags behind average per pupil spending in Connecticut — the school spends 13 percent less per student, the superintendent said.
Tracy said the $227,000 doesn’t even begin to cover some of unavoidable costs the school district faces.
He presented the tax board Tuesday with a list he referred to as “have to do” costs.
Those items totaled $743,000 and included $262,000 in costs associated to the new middle school, plus $90,000 in raises, as dictated by contracts, Tracy said.
The superintendent gave the tax board six alternative bottom lines, ranging in price from $18.3 million to the $17.3 million now under consideration.
Each one had compromises — the $18.3 million budget, for example, would cut out requests for a director of curriculum and an alternative high school — but none were as drastic as the $17.3 spending plan, Tracy said.
Judith Szewczyk said the city is in good financial shape — she noted Derby’s high bond rating — but said the tax board is in a tough position, trying to balance funding education without over-burdening residents.
Derby, in recent months, has hit decade-high rates of unemployment. Like elsewhere, it has suffered a spat of business closings. Recent casualties include a Staples and Tailgators, both on busy Route 34.
“Being very careful about how we spend money is what has kept us in good shape,” Szewczyk said.
