Schools Superintendent Stephen Tracy appeared in front of the tax board Wednesday in City Hall, where he explained why the district needs another $1.2 million to educate children during the 2010 – 2011 school year.
“We’re here tonight to ask you for a lot of money — for a worthy cause,” Tracy said.
This year’s school budget totals about $17.3 million. Tracy and the school board are asking for about $18.5 for next year.
That’s a 7.1 percent increase.
He named the 12 areas that account for roughly 90 percent of the proposed spending increase.
They are:
- Employee health benefits: $300,000
- Operation of the new Derby Middle School for a full year: $262,000
- Curriculum director: $105,000
- Special education tuition: $97,000
- State placements: $95,000
- Contracted salary increases: $90,000
- Restoration of athletic programs: $65,000
- Additional second grade teacher at the Bradley School: $50,000
- Alternative high school program: $50,000
- Transportation: $11,000
- Strategic planning: $10,000
- High school accreditation: $10,000
Watch the two videos on the page or visit the Derby budget page for details about the specific increases.
Questions
If the tax board thought there was fat in the school board’s request, they didn’t show it Wednesday.
In fact, Tracy received a round of applause at the end of the approximate two hour meeting after Derby Treasurer Keith McLiverty commended the superintendent for his transparency.
McLiverty and tax board member James Butler asked the most questions of Tracy.
Due to budget constraints, Derby schools cut a slew of sports programs before the start of this school year. However, they were able to bring the programs back by using gate receipts from sporting events.
That athletic fund has been mostly drained — so school officials have to figure out a long-term solution to fund sports.
The school board wants to spend an additional $65,000 for athletics.
McLiverty asked if the school district ever considered pay-to-play, where student athletes pay a fee to play sports.
McLiverty said the Region 15 school district, where he is the director of finance and operations, uses pay-to-play.
“Quote honestly, it offsets almost 40 percent of the cost of the athletic program,” he said.
Region 15 has a price of $100 per sport, with a cap of $200 per family. The money pays for coaches’ stipends and some transportation.
Kenneth Marcucio, school board president and a former Derby athletic director, said Derby isn’t as affluent as school districts that use pay-to-play. Butler agreed.
McLiverty suggested the school board study it so the issue could be put to rest one way or the other.
School board member Kim Kreiger said athletic boosters are actively searching for donations from Valley businesses and corporations to support athletics.
The $105,000 position of curriculum director is needed so that someone can supervise student achievement throughout the district and work on ways to improve, Tracy said.
Tracy showed the tax board data showing that while students have been making progress the last few years, the school is still lags behind state averages in several academic areas.
School officials are tentatively scheduled to appear in front of the tax board again April 26, but it’s unclear whether tax board members will have additional questions.
