By Jarret Liotta
With several million in new and additional costs to its operating budget on the horizon for next year, the Board of Education (BOE) held a preliminary meeting with the Board of Finance (BOF) and Representative Town Meeting (RTM) members Monday night.
.jpg)
Board of Finance Chairman Brian Stern shares his thoughts with the Board of Education. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Jarret Liotta for WestportNow.com
In a year that is already stacking up to see a sizable increase in the school budget — possibly over 5%, or nearly $6 million, according to Elio Longo, chief financial officer — funding officials caution that significant compromises may be needed with challenging economic times ahead.
“I just want people to be realistic,” BOF Chairman Brian Stern said.
He and several others even put in a plug for redistricting or rebalancing in order to save money — something the BOE officially took off the table for the immediate future earlier this month.
“Otherwise the cost per pupil is going to get out of sight over the next few years,” Stern said.
“Our board is committed to working collaboratively with the funding bodies,” BOE Chair Candice Savin said, noting their current operating budget was “artificially low” due to the consolidation of the two middle schools.
The current 2019-20 $118.3 million budget was a 1.8% increase over the previous year’s budget of $116.2 million.
Longo presented an overview of several areas guaranteed to see increases, including teacher and administrator contracts, medical insurance, and restoration of staff at Coleytown Middle School (CMS).
Those area increases alone add up to a 3.66% increase on the current $118,250,464 budget, totaling around $4.3 million. Among them are a $1.6 million teacher salary increase, $150,000 administrator salary increase, $1.5 million in medical insurance increases, and $1.1 million for CMS position restoration, due to include six core teachers, an assistant principal, a library media specialist, and two custodians.
Longo said there will also be additional costs in special education of around $650,000.
He said he would not be surprised to see an increase of more than 5% sought.
“There’s gonna be a lot of pain over the next couple years,” said BOF member Lee Caney, noting the projected costs of many facilities-related issues on the capital budget forecast.
“The public has to think of our town as a whole,” he said, noting things like redistricting may be necessary, or possibly even closing one of the middle schools.
“I’m asking the public to really be patient with you and with us,” he said.
Enrollment projections were yet again on the BOE agenda earlier in the meeting, with a follow-up presentation by representatives of the New England School Development Council preceding the budget discussions.
They confirmed their findings with declining enrollment and said that the significant drop in the number of students enrolled this year — 192 less — may not be as much of an anomaly as has been assumed.
Donald Kennedy, who has overseen Westport’s enrollment projections for close to 20 years, pointed out that while it does have some anomaly features, the numbers overall support a downward trend.
According to his findings, Westport, which currently has a K-12 enrollment of 5,246 students, will dip down to 4,611 over the next five years, following trends being seen throughout New England.
“The number may be a little bit too low,” Kennedy said, “but I don’t think it’s that low.”
Following the presentation, several BOF members raised additional questions in public comment — everything from data on private school attendance in other districts, to numbers on how distance from New York City translates to enrollment trends.
“Every question I heard sounded like a worthy question,” Kennedy said, but confessed that data was not readily available, in part due to state budget cuts.
Stern opined on the dismal state of Connecticut’s economics, but said Westport itself was in a relatively good place.
“Westport is now part of a select group of towns,” he said, alongside Darien, Greenwich and New Canaan, which have mill rates holding around 17%, compared with other Fairfield County towns, including Weston and Wilton, which are topping 28%.
“We never wanted to underfund education and we never have,” he said, “which is good, and the money is actually there.”
At the same time, he said, preserving the town’s income is precarious, as Westport needs to continue building its tax base, particularly in light of some major costs — in particularly the $32-million CMS refurbishing.
“The economic reality is that we have to find ways to attract new folks,” Stern said.
Each BOF member gave school officials their thoughts on prioritizing and finding creative ways to retain high-quality services while paring costs.
“My question would be, ‘What do we really need?’” said BOF Vice Chair Andrea Moore.
She said every position should be looked at with an eye toward real need, “especially with some new people on the board, really taking a fresh look and a fresh set of eyes.”
“It feels like we’re doing a lot of spinning our wheels (and) just trying to keep our doors open,” BOF member Sheri Gordon said, putting in a plug for long-range planning versus short-term fixes.
New BOF member James Foster echoed the concern with regard to CMS.
“There was no sense that there was a plan,” he said, asking the BOE to focus on a three- to five-year window with its projections.
“We do not have that long-term plan right now,” Savin said, noting that the absence of a permanent superintendent is at the root of the cause.
“You have to come back with some trade-offs,” BOF member Jay DesMarteau said, suggesting head count should be kept flat.
“I’m looking for the thoughtfulness,” he said, “and the trade-offs in the process.”
