DERBY — The Derby Board of Education is asking the city for a funding increase of $823,479, a budget-to-budget increase of 4.29 percent.
The budget approved last spring was $19,177,364.
The school district’s proposed budget totals $20,000,842.24.
In Derby, the city’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation, an elected board, reviews budget requests and then adopts a budget and sets the mill rate. The board has to adopt a budget by the end of April.
School officials said they are scheduled to review their budget in front of the BOAT at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28. An agenda will be posted to the city’s website detailing where the meeting will take place.
The proposed budget covers the fiscal year starting July 1 and ending June 30, 2024.
The proposed school budget shows a 14 percent spending increase toward Bradley School, with two new positions: a second-grade teacher and a third-grade teacher.
The budget shows a doubling of funds ($23,382 currently to a proposed $46,722) toward St. Mary-St. Michael, a Catholic school in Derby. The increase is because a part-time nurse at the school is becoming full-time, according to Derby Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Conway.
Salaries for non-certified positions in the district are going up 7.25 percent in the budget, or $195,231.
Certified salaries (such as teachers) are going down by 1.23 percent, or $122,275, according to the budget book.
Salaries (certified and non-certified) total about $12.7 million of the $20 million proposed budget.
The budget proposes moving the funding source of five positions — a business teacher, a special education teacher, two instructional coaches, and one paraeducator — out of the school district’s operating budget and to the “alliance district” funding program.
Derby Public Schools is an alliance district, meaning it is considered to be an under-performing school district by the state education department and receives additional state aid that is supposed to be earmarked for school reform efforts. Money connected to a second paraeducator is also being moved from the school’s operating budget to ARP Esser (COVID-19 funds, click here to learn more).
The move means the positions are being paid for with grant money, not money from the regular budget.
In all, the budget moves $285,268 in staffing costs out of the normal operating budget and to grant funding, according Conway.
Employee benefits — medical insurance, life insurance, workers compensation, and other items — are projected to decrease in the proposed budget by $16,603 — or 3.2 percent.
Water, electricity and natural gas expenses are projected to increase 20.1 percent in the budget, or $144,063 more than the current line item of $713,372.
Tuition for children with special needs that cannot be met within Derby Public Schools is projected to increase 33.8 percent, from the current $1,793,848 to $2,400,435.
Transportation costs connected to special education are predicted to increase 20 percent, to $563,890.
Jim Gildea, the chairman of the Derby Board of Education, said the budget request is reasonable, especially when considering the tax board gave no funding increase in two of the last five budget cycles, with a small increase last year.
“It’s a reasonable budget request when you take into account that in five years our combined funding level has only increased 4.23 percent,” Gildea said. “Our budget is exceptionally lean, and we continue to find ways to save money.”
Gildea said that while costs connected to special education are increasing, as they are everywhere, Derby has expanded programs to bring back students who previously were not taught in Derby Public Schools. The budget estimates the programs — including the “RAISE Academy” at Derby High School — have saved taxpayers some $3.9 million in potential costs.
Click here to review a 29-page budget summary from the school district.
