SEYMOUR – The town’s board of education is reviewing a $39.9 million budget for the 2024 – 2025 fiscal year that carries a $1.73 million spending increase – or 4.5 percent – over the current budget.
Seymour Superintendent of Schools Susan Compton’s proposed budget includes the following breakdown of items driving the increase:
*Certified contractual staff increases- $418,696
*Non-certified contractual staff increases- $144,523
*Health insurance- $576,286
*Pension contribution- $72,716
*Special Education (including tuition for outplaced students) — $296,697
*Technology — $24,720
*Facilities (repairs and maintenance)- $28,620
*Property/liability insurance- $28,770
Compton presented her proposal to the Board of Education via a Power Point presentation during a budget workshop held Jan. 11. A link to view the workshop can be found online here.
The board held a second workshop Monday (Jan. 22). Watch it here.
An approved budget, by town charter, must be submitted to the town by Jan. 31. The board is expected to meet for another workshop on Jan. 29 or Jan. 30 to vote on a budget, according to Compton.
In Seymour, the school board votes to adopt a budget, but that budget is then sent to the Seymour Board of Finance, who can change the school budget’s bottom line. The board of finance then sends the budget to voters in the spring.
Compton said her budget proposal was developed with three guiding principles in mind. They include providing a “high-quality education program for students, improving operational efficiencies and developing a budget that respects the taxpayer.”
The bulk of the proposed 4.5 percent increase can be attributed to routine annual cost increases, according to Compton. They include employee salaries increases and benefits previously approved in union labor contracts; special education services, transportation, and ongoing facility repair and maintenance.
Compton said teacher salaries and benefits account for 77 percent of the total budget.
“Our spending plan continues to support the academic, emotional, social and physical needs of our students in order to prepare them for a successful future as global citizens,” the superintendent said during the meeting.
Compton’s proposed budget includes funding for a security guard at Seymour High School ($27,939); three permanent building substitutes ($76,990) and two alternative education teachers to create an alternate education program at both the middle school and high school ($115,215).
Compton said such a program would enable the district to keep students with various educational needs in-house, as opposed to outplacing them. She said it would also create an opportunity to transition students who are already outplaced back to their home schools.
Compton noted her proposed budget includes savings of nearly $40,000 in energy costs, thanks to the installation of solar panels throughout the district, as well as savings of more than $61,000 in retiree longevity payments.
Voters last year approved a $38.2 million school budget but it took three referendums.
Elsewhere
Budget season is also starting for school boards in Derby and Ansonia.
In Derby, the school board just started looking at a $20.7 million budget that increases spending by $1.1 million, or 6 percent. The budget hasn’t been adopted by the school board yet. It might be adopted in February, at which point it gets passed to the Derby tax board for further review.
In Ansonia, a school board meeting scheduled for Jan. 17 listed the budget as a discussion item. However, that meeting was canceled.
A budget document posted to the Ansonia school board’s website on Jan. 17 showed a proposed budget of $37.9 million, a $2.2 million increase over the current budget. The Valley Indy reached out to Ansonia Superintendent Joseph DiBacco several times but did not hear back.
