Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti detailed the 2026-27 Proposed Operational Budget Plan to the Board of Education (BOE) at its Tuesday, January 13 meeting.

The education budget proposal totals $96,086,919 — a roughly $4,342,275, or 4.73%, increase over the current year.

Under the district's overarching curriculum and instruction strategic goal, Uberti said they are proposing targeted staffing additions — one classroom teacher at Head O'Meadow Elementary School and two classroom teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

These are driven by enrollment patterns, special education needs, and academic intervention requirements, according to Uberti.

She is also recommending the addition of an elementary special education teacher. This is something that happened earlier this year, when Hawley Elementary School received a new special education teacher mid-year due to a significant increase in students exhibiting behavioral dysregulation and needing individual support.

This proposed budget carries the position forward, Uberti said, so the district can sustain services next year at the level required to meet those students' needs.

Among these requests is the addition of a dedicated school psychologist and five behavior therapists. These positions would support the district's Program for Adaptive Learning (PAL), which serves students with significant adaptive communication, academic, and behavioral needs.

Students in the program, Uberti said, require small student-to-adult ratios, individualized instruction, and intensive support in order to access learning and make progress towards their Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals.

PAL is projected to serve 21 students next year, marking an increase of more than 250% over six years. Growth of the scale has increased the demand of the program and its staff, hence the proposed positions.

Other requests include: the reinstatement of an instructional paraprofessional at Hawley, a math interventionist at Newtown High School (NHS) to provide targeted support and help students make meaningful gains in mathematics, and a fine arts department chair at NHS to provide instructional leadership, support teachers, and align coursework across visual arts, music, and performance.

She noted a net reduction of one classroom teacher at Middle Gate Elementary School next year based on enrollment levels.

In targeting other strategic goals, Uberti said they are also proposing investments to keep the district's building safe and offer functional and modern learning investments.

These requests include transitioning from aging SMART Boards, upgrading radio infrastructure for emergency communication, and replacing custodial and building equipment that has reached the end of its useful life.

Uberti said many of these items are on predictable replacement cycles, and managing them proactively allows the district to spread costs over time and prevent higher expenses associated with deferred maintenance.

She went on to highlight the purchase of a digital onboarding system to support the district's Business & Finance and Human Resources (HR) departments.

"For Business and Finance, the program has the potential to function as a cost avoidance strategy ... from an HR standpoint, it strengthens recruitment and retention by ensuring new staff enter the district smoothly and efficiently," Uberti explained.

To support family engagement and community partnerships at the middle school level, Uberti said they are also requesting a dean of students for Newtown Middle School. A key component of this role is partnering with students and families to remove barriers to engagement and connect with them for support.

"This includes targeted work and attendance, outreach, and chronic absenteeism, areas that become increasingly critical at the middle school level," Uberti explained.

Starting Line

Uberti said even though they build the budget from the ground up every year, the majority of costs are committed before they even begin the budget process. Salaries and benefits are contractual obligations, and represent most of the district's operating expenses.

In addition, Uberti said several areas, such as insurance, transportation, and special education are mandated or influenced by external factors that are not discretionary.

"These pressures exist regardless of enrollment or programming decisions and must be accounted for before we consider strategic investments," Uberti said.

She said it might be helpful to think of their "baseline" or "rollover budget," a representation of what it would cost to do next year with "essentially the same work we are doing this year." This does not introduce new programs or staffing, but reflects the district's contractual and mandated obligations.

The district's "baseline" budget going into the 2026-27 budget totaled $94,833,080.

The largest component of the baseline is personnel costs, which represent a $2,945,152 — or $3.21% — increase. All other costs, including utilities, transportation, and other mandated services, add an additional $140,160 — or .16%.

To understand the 2026-27 proposal fully, Uberti said it is important they revisit what they faced as a district last year — unprecedented increases in insurance. This, when combined with contractual obligations, salaries, and benefits, "put us at a 7.8% increase as a starting point," according to Uberti.

Ultimately, the final 2025-26 budget landed at a 4.96% increase over the previous year, with a total budget of $91,744,644. Uberti said its passing in referendum last April reflected strong community understanding of both the financial pressures and the difficult decisions made to manage them.

As the majority of operating costs are tied to salary and benefits, Uberti said addressing that increase required extremely difficult decisions. This included a detailed review of positions across the district.

She noted approximately 30 positions were eliminated from the 2025-26 budget. Uberti clarified these are positions that were removed and have not been reinstated. This effectively lowered the budget by around $1,500,000, but also had real implications for how the district's schools operate.

"When positions are eliminated, the work does not disappear; it is redistributed, absorbed, or delayed," Uberti explained.

While school administrators and staff have adjusted to the changes from last year, Uberti said there is a limit to how much can be reduced year after year without affecting the core work of schools.

She added, "At some point, continued reductions begin to impact the support services and instructional experiences that our students rely on. I can say that we are at that point right now."

Acknowledgments, Other Info

Uberti acknowledged the many people who contributed to the work behind the proposal, including BOE members, the district's central office team, building administrators, and special education program leaders.

She then outlined the district's mission statement: "Newtown Public Schools partners with students, families, educators, and community to inspire excellence and prepare students for personal success in a global community by delivering quality instruction, maintaining high expectations, promoting civic responsibility, and focusing on continuous improvement."

This mission, Uberti said, reflects the expectations they hold for students and the aspirations shared across schools, families, and community. It also provides context for investments reviewed in the proposal.

Uberti noted the district's Cycle of Continuous Improvement, a metric for bettering instruction and student performance. The metric's "Plan, Do, Act, Check" process applies at the system level.

"Student performance informs our strategic priorities — the planning. Schools and departments implement the work — the doing. We review progress through data and feedback — the checking. And we determine what needs to happen next year to sustain or improve results — the acting," Uberti explained.

She said the cycle is where strategy becomes action and is also where the BOE plays a critical governance role. BOE members evaluate the proposal against data and priorities, and resources are allocated accordingly.

"And that way, the budget is not simply financial; it is how the system acts on what we have learned," Uberti continued. "It reflects our shared commitment to continuous improvement and our responsibility to meet the needs of our students and community."

From that continuous improvement cycle, Uberti went into the district's overarching strategic goals for the next three years.

She outlined five goals: cultivating a dynamic learning environment, ensuring school facilities are safe and secure, ensuring fiscal responsibility and transparency, attracting and retaining a high-quality, diverse, passionate workforce, and cultivating strong, reciprocal partnerships with families and the larger community.

"These goals provide clarity about what we value as a district and what we need to advance for students," Uberti explained. "These are the priorities that [we] are planning and implementing throughout the year, and they anchor the budget decisions [discussed] tonight."

Uberti noted how it is important to ground the conversation about the quality of their schools in evidence.

She continued by saying independent bookmarks from Niche and US News & World Report consistently ranked Newtown among the top public school districts in Connecticut.

This year, Newtown Public Schools District was ranked the #22 Best School District in Connecticut by Niche.

"While rankings are not the purpose of our work, they do offer external validation of instructional quality, program strength, and student outcomes," Uberti said.

After going over statistics from each school, Uberti said strong schools benefit the entire community, not just those with children.

"They protect home values, attract new families, and help maintain stable neighborhoods," Uberti added.

Homes in top-performing districts appreciate more quickly — often 15-25% more over five years — because families seek communities with strong schools, according to Uberti. She said Newtown's home values have increased roughly 36-40% over the past five years, supported in part by the quality and reputation of the district.

In finishing her presentation, Uberti said the proposal reflects a budget aligned to their priorities, grounded in what they know students need to be successful.

"Budgets are built one year at a time, but their impact unfolds over many. The proposal keeps us moving forward in a way that sustains what is working, responds to emerging needs, and aligns the resources of the district to our strategic plan," Uberti explained.

Moving Forward

In her report, BOE Chair Alison Plante said Tuesday night's meeting marked the start of their 2026-27 budget process. She said their responsibility is simple: to put forth a budget that ensures an excellent education for students in a fiscally responsible way for Newtown taxpayers.

"Achieving that responsibility, however, is easier said than done," Plante noted.

BOE members will have two weeks to review and submit questions regarding the budget proposal. The BOE will reconvene on Tuesday, January 27 and Thursday, January 29 to continue discussing the proposal before voting on budget adoption on Tuesday, February 3.

From there, Plante said the budget will be sent to the Board of Finance, then to the Legislative Council, and finally to referendum in April. While the Board of Finance and Legislative Council may make adjustments to the bottom line, only the BOE has line item authority.

Assuming it passes, the final budget will come back to the BOE in May, when board members will be asked to implement any adjustments made and approved by voters, according to Plante.

She added that the BOE had excellent engagement not only from its members, but also from the public regarding the proposal. Plante encouraged the community to email the BOE, to come to its meetings and make public comment, or to attend PTA meetings.

"Ultimately, the seven of us represent you, and doing that well requires your input," Plante said. "Personally, I know that I read every single email and I know that my colleagues do the same, so please, please engage."

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.