Board of Ed Budget: 5.26% Rise to $80.3 Million

The Board of Education on Tuesday cut $266,144 from the superintendent's proposed budget but supported spending on:

• The foreign language program for the elementary schools ($333,000+)
• Making the high school rugby club a varsity team ($7,075)
• An additional school psychologist ($70,000)
• Another school social worker ($70,000)

The $80,324,182 budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013 represents an increase of $4,010,377, or 5.26 percent over the $76,313,805 budget passed last year. The board also passed a capital budget of $1,122,000.

(Like students cramming late into the night, the total amounts were added quickly during the board meeting which lasted until almost 11 p.m. Schools Finance Director Richard Huot said that on Wednesday the numbers would be reviewed for accuracy.)

The operating budget passed in an 8-1 vote, with board member Morgan Whittier voting against. Whittier generally favored less spending than other board members.

Big picture

On Monday night, the Board of Selectmen unanimously passed a $41,298,468 General Fund budget (a 6.4 percent increase). The operating and capital budgets passed by each board total $121,335,744,650—a 5.7 percent increase, overall

The town receives a minor amount of state grants, much of it in the Education Cost Sharing program. The vast bulk of town spending, however, comes from it's own tax base, which grew 0.75 percent since last year, according to the Darien Assessor's Office.

Like the selectmen's budget, the education budget now goes before the Board of Finance, which next meets tonight. All town spending must pass the finance board as well as the Representative Town Meeting, which will have its education and finance committees review the budget before a final RTM vote in May.

Optimism

Education Board Chairperson Elizabeth Hagerty-Ross, asked if she was optimistic that the foreign language program, rugby team, school psychologist and social worker could stay in the budget after the finance board and RTM had gone through the budget, answered that she was.

"At this point in time, I am optimistic, because it's the beginning of the budget season. We will go in and make our case" to the other boards. "The parent community has spoken [in favor of the spending], and we're really answering the call of our constituents.

"Our administrators are our experts, and we're going to go with the program they have defended to the ultimate degree," she said.

Foreign language program

Vote, 6-3: In favor, Hagerty-Ross, Clara C. Sartori, Heather L. Shea, James M. Plutte, Susan T. Perticone, Michael A. Harman. Opposed, Amy M. Bell, Morgan B. Whittier and George A. Reilly

Plutte said he thought the program was a worthwhile addition to the curriculum, and he was bothered by those who said or implied that in a town as wealthy as Darien, so many people are willing to settle for a mediocre school system that wouldn't cost them as much as an excellent one.

"It's difficult for me to look at a town that's always at or near the bottom in the mill rate and always at or near the top in per capita income," and hear people say, "We can't afford it," Plutte said.

Perticone said she believed early language learning is important, given the challenges students will face after graduation. Although the program isn't designed to teach children to be fluent, she said, she accepts the fact that "this will never be an inexpensive initiative."

Bell said she continues to be opposed to the program to teach Spanish, which she said would cost at least $344,000 a year, with salaries and benefits for five teachers, as well as materials. (The board passed a total of $310,000 for salaries and benefits for five teachers, together with $23,000 for materials.)

The program will give children minimal skills in Spanish, and she was concerned that many supporters indicated that it's only a first step toward a more comprehensive program, despite statements from district administrative staff that there are no plans to expand it.

Whittier said phasing in the program over three years would have been a better idea. Sartori said she supported the program as is, but she did not support expanding it.

"I'm supporting it because I believe we need to continue to discuss this" with the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting, Hagerty-Ross said.

School psychologist, social worker

Vote: Budget lines for each position were unanimously supported by the board.

"I think the case has been made," Whittier said. "I think it's sad but true that a social worker is needed."

Bell said she thought these positions came under the "need-to-have" category, rather than "want-to-have," a distinction made by town officials early in the budget process.

"We have an obligation to support these students," she said.

Rugby team

Vote: In favor, Hagerty-Ross, Bell, Plutte, Reilly, Whittier, Perticone. Opposed, Harman, Shea and Sartori.

The cost of turning the Rugby Club into a regular high school sports team amounts to $7,075, since the $2,300 club budget will be exchanged for a $6,375 team budget, together with a transportation budget of $1,600 and a $1,400 budget for uniforms and equipment.

Plutte said he thought the team and its supporters "made their case." Whittier said he was impressed by the cameraderie of the team, whose members wore their rugby shirts to a public hearing on the budget last week.

"I think a varsity letter is a symbol of excellence and success," Bell said. "I really think it's a nominal expense, when it comes down to it."

Shea and Sartori each said the club should wait another year to become a team.

Other budget lines

The board also added $200,000 to the out-of-district tuition account for special education students. Shea had suggested adding $400,000, but Hagerty-Ross said $100,000 should be sufficient in the account, which is not very predictable, given the individual learning programs of special education students, which can vary widely depending on their evaluations over time.

Money not spent in the account could be spent elsewhere by the Board of Education, and if the account comes up short during the fiscal year, the board had to rely on the Board of Finance for extra funding. In that case, money might need to be taken out of the regular education budget if the finance board didn't agree to spend more.

The board also:

• Declined to finance new bleachers at the high school ($9,000)
• Approved a slate roof for Middlesex Middle School ($750,000)
• Cut dues for the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education ($16,261)

Correction: Board member Amy Bell did not say she thought being a member of a high school rugby team would help some students get into a college of their choice, as was reported in an earlier version of this article. Some other board member said that. The article also did not reflect the fact that Bell voted in favor of making the team a varsity sport with more funding or that Clara Sartori voted against it.