SEYMOUR – The Seymour Board of Finance on Wednesday (Feb. 28) wrapped up a month’s work of meeting with town departments on their individual budget requests for the 2024 – 2025 fiscal year.
Up next for the board is the presentation of First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis’ budget proposal. Drugonis will present her budget at 7 p.m. March 6 at Town Hall. From there, the board will deliberate throughout March before approving a budget to present to voters at a referendum later this spring.
The final department to present its budget request to the board on Wednesday was the Seymour Board of Education. The school board is seeking a $39.9 million budget, which is $1.8 million, or 4.7 percent, more than its current budget.
The school board initially approved a budget of $40.3 million, an increase of $2.1 million, but has since eliminated three proposed staff positions from that proposal.
On Wednesday, Board of Education Chairman Chris Champagne, along with Superintendent of Schools Susan Compton and School Business Manager Salvatore Bucci gave an overview of this year’s budget process and laid out what’s driving the increase.
“We think this budget really encompasses everything we’re looking for, for the most part. We can always want a little more, but it keeps things pretty steady with the obligations that we have,” said Champagne.
Champagne said teacher pay raises, per contract negotiations, make up the bulk of the overall increase. The new items proposed in the budget are a teacher for Seymour Middle School to address growing enrollment, addition of an English language learner (ELL) teacher for the elementary schools (which school officials said is state-mandated), and three permanent building substitute teachers.
Compton said teacher salaries and benefits comprise 77 percent of the entire budget. She said special education costs -– namely costs to place students outside the district — are the second biggest cost in the budget.
Compton also highlighted some accomplishments the district recently made, including U.S. News and World Report naming Seymour High School as a top U.S. high school, SHS Assistant Principal Paul Lucke nabbing the state Assistant Principal of the Year honor, and Chatfield-LoPresti School being named a School of Distinction by the state Department. of Education.
“This (budget) is what we absolutely have got to have to maintain the excellence and maintain the quality of education in Seymour,” Compton told the finance board. “When people move into a community, the first thing they always check is the public schools. In your community, you’re only as good as your school system.”
The $1.8 million increase the school board is seeking includes $419,246 for certified staff pay raises; $146,436 for non-certified staff pay raises; $562,321 for health insurance; $65,185 for pension contribution; $296,697 for special education (including tuition/transportation for outplaced students; $24,720 for technology; $28,620 for facilities (repair and maintenance); $28,770 for property/liability insurance; $108,827 for an SMS classroom teacher; and $108,827 for an ELL teacher.
