Date: Fri 16-Feb-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

school-budget-board-

Full Text:

Board Accepts School Spending Plan

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Newtown's Board of Education unanimously passed a $28.5 million operating

budget for 1996-97 Tuesday night Á untouched and uncut.

Next year's spending plan, a 5.6 percent increase over the current budget, now

heads to the Legislative Council, which will begin deliberations in March.

In addition, the board approved a $30.9 million capital project request. That

money would be used to fund the addition projects at Newtown High and Hawley

schools and a new roof at Head O' Meadow School.

The capital project spending plan will be decided upon at a referendum

separate from the town vote on the school's operating budget.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed urged taxpayers not to panic. The

capital project plan is subject to a 37.5 percent reimbursement from the

state, while the remainder will be bonded over the next 20 years.

Unlike last year, when board members slashed $300,000 from the budget, Dr

Reed's proposal went passed essentially as it had been proposed.

The bottom line, according to the board, was that there were simply few areas

to make cuts. They concluded that the superintendent's proposal was about as

tight as it could get.

Dr Reed said the $1.4 million increase over the current operating budget was

inevitable, pointing to a 3.5 percent enrollment increase, salary increases,

higher employee benefit and transportation costs, and general inflation.

Board chairman Herb Rosenthal pointed out that Dr Reed cut $600,000 in

department head requests before the board even saw the budget.

"There really wasn't much to cut," he explained.

Charles Nanavaty said he appreciates getting a conservative budget rather than

one that has room for cuts just to make the school board look good.

The board added a small amount of cash to the budget for trim and door

replacements at the middle school and took out $30,000 worth of transportation

insurance that had been over bid. Both moves had little effect on the bottom

line figure.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Legislative Council agrees with the

school board.

Council member Joe Borst declined to comment on the budget's approval

Thursday, saying he needed to take a closer look. However, a month ago, when

the proposal was first unveiled, Mr Borst said he believed it would need to be

trimmed down in order for it to receive public approval.

Newtown schools spend far less per student than the state average, ranking

142nd out of 168 school districts.

Mr Rosenthal discussed the need for a new roof at Head O' Meadow School. Built

in the mid-1970s, the school still has its original roof. It's starting to

leak and architects told the school board chair that it must be fixed this

summer in order to avoid major problems.

The high school project is estimated to cost $26.5 million, the Hawley

addition is expected to cost about $3.8 million and the roof at Head O' Meadow

should come in around $600,000.

Adding both the operating budget and the capital project plan together, the

total budget presented to the legislative council is $59.4 million.