With Superintendent of Schools Chris Melillo set to present his proposed 2023-24 budget to the Board of Education at its scheduled Tuesday, January 17, meeting, he shared insight with The Newtown Bee this week into how the budget came together.

After the superintendent’s budget proposal is presented to the school board, it will be reviewed by the Board of Education over multiple meetings. A public hearing on the budget before the Board of Education is scheduled for Thursday, January 26.

The school board is expected to adopt its school spending package at its January 31 meeting. From there the budget will go before the Board of Finance and Legislative Council before going to referendum in April.

But, before all of that can happen, the school budget must first be compiled. Melillo said work on the budget began in late September and early October.

At the very start of the budget process Newtown Public Schools building principals prepared their own individual budget proposals. Melillo said the principals look at things such as enrollment, staff levels, programming, supplies, and equipment, with special attention if it is past its prime.

The superintendent then meets with the principals to discuss meeting the needs of students, how programming is working, and how the district can accentuate or trim areas.

“And then we start making decisions about what programming works, what our classroom sizes need to be, [and] what equipment they will need to make it happen,” Melillo said, adding that supplies students and teachers will need to be successful are also reviewed.

“They will bring their requests to me and my administrative team ... And we start making decisions around wants and needs,” Melillo said.

One pleasant aspect of working on the school budget proposals, the superintendent reflected, is working with people who share the same mission. Melillo also said having a budget with the ability to enhance programming and new initiatives is exciting.

Together with the school building principals, Melillo said he is looking to have a “budget that will really enhance and protect the instructional core.”

Overall, Melillo said he is looking for the budget to meet the needs of students, enhance areas to protect learning and the core instructional process, support teacher practice improvements, make sure content and curriculum are academically challenging, and keep students engaged.

This year Melillo said there are obstacles that need to be overcome “in order to create a budget that meets the needs of our students.”

One of those obstacles, Melillo pointed out, is Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSR) federal grant funds sunsetting at the end of 2023, while the learning gaps created by the pandemic are not sunsetting. Melillo said the district needs to make sure many of the supports put in place with ESSR funds are secure otherwise.

Other obstacles include special education cost increases, contractual increases, a rise in English language learners, the state’s decreased funding for Newtown through the Excess Cost Grant, and an unfunded state reading mandate, and the district anticipates steady enrollment for the 2023-24 school year.

“At least that’s what our projections show,” Melillo said about the anticipated student enrollment.

And Melillo highlighted the district’s efforts to manage a labor shortage, notably impacting the number of bus drivers, as detailed in a related story in this week’s print edition, and other areas of the school district.

“All of those obstacles come at a time when I need to be cognizant that inflation has risen,” the superintendent shared.

Melillo said he understands that families are struggling with their own budgets.

“It’s not as easy for me as a superintendent to say I will take ‘all this’ and add it to the tax payers, I need to be cognizant of my community. It’s a fine line of making sure the students of Newtown get what they need but being fiscally responsible by doing it,” the superintendent said.

Overall, Melillo said he feels he has created a budget that will meet the needs of students while being respectful of the current economic challenges that citizens face.

The Board of Education’s January 17 meeting, when Melillo is expected to present the budget, is slated for 7 pm at Reed Intermediate School, 3 Trades Lane.

Education Editor Eliza Van can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.