Freeman Burr’s tenure as Shelton’s Superintendent of Schools got off to a rocky start.
In the midst of a stagnant economy, the city’s Aldermen gave the schools a $95,000 budget increase for 2010 – 2011 — a nice chunk of change for most, but barely a tenth of a percent of a $63.1 million budget, and not enough for the district to avoid widespread layoffs.
The last two years saw increases of $600,000 and $36,627 year over year.
Last month, the school board voted unanimously to endorse Burr’s budget request for 2013 – 2014. At $67,240,073, it represents an annual increase of more than $3.5 million, or 5.49 percent.
Of that, just over $3 million is needed just to keep the schools on an even keel going into next year, the superintendent said.
Burr’s presentation to the school board is embedded below. Article continues after the document.
Shelton 2013 – 2014 School Budget Presentation by ValleyIndyDotOrg
It’s still early in the process — with recent charter changes, Mayor Mark Lauretti has until March 22 to kick off the budget season with a request to Aldermen and the tax board. The numbers could change slightly as school officials try to negotiate lower costs for things like health care and transportation.
But with a mayor who has made keeping taxes low his highest priority and isn’t shy about criticizing the school board — last year he made an impromptu visit to a board meeting to harangue absent members and once issued a tongue-in-cheek request for a $10,000 bonus as a way of criticizing Burr’s contract — more than $3 million in new funding is a bit of a tall order, no?
“Contrary to popular belief, Mark and I talk a lot,” Burr said during an interview this month. “We have a good professional relationship, we have a good personal relationship.”
After a brief pause, he added: “But this is a critical year for us. This is the highest our rollover costs have been except for my first year here, and that was the year we subsequently ended up laying off a hundred people.”
The economy isn’t in the doldrums like it was back then, he pointed out.
“We’re not as bad as we were three years ago, but we’re in a similar place, because to keep the teaching staff we have now, without any new programmatic additions, we’re talking about $1.3 (million) in their salaries alone,” he said, noting that the teachers contract was the result of arbitration. “It’s not like we can go and renegotiate.”
Still, the superintendent said he hopes this year marks a departure, funding-wise.
“I think there are possibilities,” he said.
But does the mayor?
Perhaps — but I can’t tell you more until March, he said this week.
“I haven’t even looked at the budget yet,” Lauretti said Wednesday.
He and Burr have been talking — a lot — lately, though not about the budget: officials are re-evaluating school security in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre. Any costs associated with needed upgrades or changes probably won’t impact the school budget.
“I think I have enough set aside to solve those issues,” Lauretti said.
Regarding next year’s schools funding, the mayor said a large part of his decision will depend on what happens with the state funding that’s still up in the air, but conceded it’s been flat for awhile.
“They haven’t had an increase in a number of years,” Lauretti said. “I am going to try to get them more money.”
$3.5 million more?
“I would tell you that’s probably not going to happen,” Lauretti said. “I would also tell you that they’re probably not going to need that much. In the next couple of months we’ll work the numbers out as we always do.”
New Initiatives
The $3 million school officials say is needed just to keep programs the same next year breaks down as follows:
- $1,576,761 for salaries
- $1,224,303 for employee benefits
- $262,197 for transportation
Beyond that, Burr asked for $440,185 to fund new initiatives.
For example, he said he wants to increase the number of school counselors at Elizabeth Shelton and Long Hill elementary schools.
“They’re the two largest schools we have enrollment-wise,” Burr said, as well as housing the largest populations of certain groups of students with a greater need for counselors — Elizabeth Shelton has the highest number of students with disabilities, and Long Hill has a large population of students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch, as well as those learning English.
He’s also asking for a new science teacher and a new technical education teacher at the high school to strengthen its STEM curriculum.
Beefing up the high school’s special education program is another priority, in order to help students with certain needs transition to that school better.
“As kids who may have had that type of need progress through the K‑12 system, hopefully we can make that program effective so kids who are suitable in that program would be able to be serviced in Shelton High School, versus becoming an out-of-district tuition or an out-of-district placement,” the superintendent said.
Technology-wise, the district wants to add a network technician at a cost of $65,943, as well as spend $65,000 to replace computers and $35,000 on new computers, software, and web hosting.