Board of Ed Budget Committee Meeting

Exactly one week before school bells will ring in the new term, The Board of Education Budget Committee met on Monday morning to discuss budget distribution and special education costs for the upcoming school year.

DISTRIBUTION GOES GREEN

For the next fiscal year, committee members determined that it would be more efficient to distribute preliminary copies of the Board of Education’s budget on compact disks, as opposed to paper.

“For general public distribution, this is very good,” said Board of Education member George Reilly.
   
Cutting paper and printing costs is not just environmentally sound but economical too. According to Reilly, CDs only cost between 45 and 75 cents each to produce. That may not sound like huge savings, but electronic distribution will save a lot, as each budget is a thick, bound document.

The CD will also save committees and board members who meet to discuss particulars from endless page turning.

 “The further we get in the budget process, the more convenient it becomes,” said Board of Education member Heather Shea.

All those directly involved with the Board of Education, including members of Board of Finance, the Board of Selectmen, principals and the Education and Finances Committees of the RTM will receive CDs.

"For general distribution, this is very good," said Director of Finance for the Board of Education Richard Huot.

For the first year, those who request a printed copy of the budget will also receive a copy of the CD.

HOT BUTTON ISSUE: SPECIAL EDUCATION

The budget committee also discussed special education, albeit briefly.

According to a February 10 Board of Education report, Darien’s special education costs prior to state reimbursement have increased by 16 percent each year over the past three fiscal years.

Some money from this fiscal year’s budget will pay off last year’s “catch-up expenses,” which amounted to $754,000. Those expenses are related to the eight new special-need students that arrived after the 2008-2009 budget was finalized.

The salaries of aides, learning consultants, physical therapists, psychologists and various other consultants and specialists are part of the costs taken into account.

There is always a possibility for unanticipated costs as new special-needs students regularly move to the district after the budget finalization. Six new special-needs students joined the Darien Public Schools in 2006-2007 and five in 2007-2008.

According to the February report, the goals of the Board of Education when working on this year’s budget were to “maintain the core educational program and protect class size policy.” That means keeping the student to teacher ratio low.

Currently, there are 24 special education students projected for September in the Early Learning Program, designed for pre-school children; the largest population of special education students is at Darien High School with 134 students.

There are job openings for a special education teacher and a speech and language pathologist in the Darien Public School system for the upcoming year.