On March 2, the Board of Finance continued its review of local budget requests for the 2015-16 fiscal cycle, examining dozens of details in the Board of Education’s $72,253,488 proposal representing a 1.27 percent hike over the current year.

But less than two days later, the district adjusted its budget request to $71,915,679, representing a 0.8 percent increase, because of an action to reduce district contributions to the town’s self-insured employee health plan.

Besides making that reduction recommendation as the finance board was meeting Monday, Town Finance Director Robert Tait has also discovered a $270,000 request in the school district’s budget for dental coverage that is redundantly available under the town’s self-insured plan.

The finance director is recommending the district eliminate its current $200,000 dental insurance fund balance, and transfer it to the self-insured account to cover the migration of district staff to dental coverage under the town’s program. He said the difference of about $70,000 in anticipated dental costs for newly insured personnel would be absorbed in the $13 million insurance fund.

In attempting to understand and possibly isolate added savings in its school budget review, the finance board expressed concern over missing contractually required data from the district’s transportation vendor All-Star Transportation regarding local school bus routes and ridership.

At one point in the March 2 meeting, Finance Chairman John Kortze said there were several stipulated reports required as part of All-Star’s contract with the town, that could have helped his board better understand the intricacies of that contract and related costs if they were provided.

He and fellow board members Michael Portnoy, John Godin and James Filan all asked questions following a confirmation that the district will reduce the number of full-size, 77-passenger buses serving the district by one, saving an additional $62,220.

Board members also noted an apparent discrepancy between the amount of diesel fuel the district was acquiring as part of fulfilling the All-Star regular district transportation contract, and the overall amount of diesel being reserved by the district.

District Business Manager Ron Bienkowski responded, saying the additional fuel would cover supplemental All-Star trips for sports teams and field trips, as well as out-of-district regular 

and special transportation runs, which are contracted separately.

Finance board members also questioned why, in the face of significantly declining enrollment, only a single bus would be eliminated. Mr Bienkowski said the recent decline in students from about 5,600 to about 5,000 does not affect the geographical location of current riders across town.

“Distribution hasn’t changed at all,” Mr Bienkowski said. He and Superintendent Dr Joseph V. Erardi, Jr also defended the number of buses in relation to the maximum amount of time the district wants to see students spending on trips to and from school. 

Ridership Versus Capacity

The officials explained that no matter what the fluctuation in ridership is, the district is obliged to have capacity to transport every student who qualifies for school bus services. Dr Erardi said that sports participation also accounts for significant swings in ridership depending on the season, and that his ultimate concern is not having a seat available for all students awaiting a bus on any given day, regardless of the transportation tier they are on.

The superintendent did acknowledge that the tier one bus routes dictate the timeliness and efficiency of the tier two and three circuits following, and that once Sandy Hook students return to Newtown and their new school in 2016, he would entertain possibly creating a fourth tier to create greater efficiencies.

Finance board Vice Chair Joe Kearney suggested creating an opt-out system, whereby parents could remove their children from consideration for bus services. Dr Erardi said he would look at creating a survey before next September to gauge opt-out options for the future.

He also told finance officials he will continue negotiating with All-Star to maximize efficiencies with an eye on reducing total bus counts in the future.

Among the other questions, finance board member Harry Waterbury asked to qualify how much money is budgeted in 2016 for positions previously underwritten by grants awarded following 12/14. District officials confirmed an originally grant funded $55,000 guidance position and a $21,000 security guard are now in the operations budget.

On questioning by Mr Portnoy, officials confirmed that seven of 11 “veteran educators” had selected an early retirement “cash out” option, while four others opted to retire while remaining on the district health insurance plan for two additional years with no increase in their co-pay contribution. 

Monitoring Staff Levels

Dr Erardi said he will continue monitoring staffing levels through early August with an eye on eliminating other positions if enrollment or other factors justify it. At one point the superintendent said he does not add positions one year with the plan to make them permanent, if that position is no longer required in subsequent years.

“That’s not how I do business,” Dr Erardi said.

The superintendent also identified a new “academic officer” he envisions creating at the high school by budgeting for a 0.4 position. He told the finance board that the individual would balance a workload of several classes as an instructor, with supporting students and administrators in this new non-administrative post.

He said the position has previously been presented as an additional vice principal, but under the new title, the individual would function more like a department chair, could be drawn from existing staff with a modified teaching schedule, and who would take on “a building leadership role.”

As the presentation concluded, Mr Kortze told the superintendent that taxpayers may still not be able to see “the benefit of staff reductions...after multiple years of enrollment reductions.”

Dr Erardi replied that increased spending was being driven by contractual obligations, technology and other district needs. He then asked the finance board to consider the bottom line increase that was being presented.

“I will defend this budget to any community member,” Dr Erardi said, adding that the request mirrors what the district needs, and “not a dime less.”

“What we want to be is an outstanding school district,” Dr Erardi said. “I sit here hopeful that you will let the electorate make the decision on the fourth Tuesday in April.”

Following the meeting, Mr Kortze said the district’s presentation was thorough, although a number of points still need clarification. He said Dr Erardi promised those details by late Thursday (after the print edition of The Bee went to press and after this story was posted online).

The finance chairman said the question of declining enrollment versus a requested increase in spending “still needs to be answered,” particularly in view of the potential $1 million in savings that are being realized through early retirements and staffing reductions.