Superintendent reports improved test scores, lower chronic absenteeism and new Sono school; finance chief describes amended FY26 budget

Superintendent Dr. Estrella and district staff presented highlights from the 2025 state accountability results at the Norwalk Board of Education meeting on Sept. 16, reporting improved proficiency and growth across multiple measures, a marked reduction in chronic absenteeism and a 92.7% graduation rate.

Dr. Estrella opened by describing the district’s successful start to the school year and the August ribbon cutting for the new Sono Elementary School in South Norwalk. The superintendent said the new facility will serve as both a school and a community hub for the neighborhood.

Diane Filardo, presenting state accountability results, summarized gains in English language arts, mathematics and science. Key points the district highlighted: - Chronic absenteeism dropped compared with prior years, with a reduction of roughly 400 chronically absent students compared with the prior year (from about 2,400 to about 2,000). Filardo presented trends showing lower absenteeism for both high-needs and non-high-needs students. - Smarter Balanced results and matched-cohort analyses showed increases in proficiency in ELA and math across tested grades; special-education and multilingual-learner subgroups recorded noticeable percentage-point gains (examples given in presentation: MLL ELA proficiency rose from about 7.4% to about 10% in one cohort, a relative increase cited in the presentation). - Connecticut SAT results for grade 11 showed a 10-percentage-point increase in ELA proficiency between 2024 and 2025 for Norwalk and a smaller gain in math; Norwalk’s gaps with the state average narrowed on SAT scale scores. - Next-Generation measures and performance-index comparisons showed Norwalk ranking at or near the top among Connecticut’s largest cities on several indicators; the district’s growth metrics exceeded the state for multiple subgroups for the first time since 2021.

District leaders credited multiple strategies—new curricula, coaching and professional learning, literacy and math interventions, targeted supports for multilingual learners, and school-improvement planning—for the gains. Board members reacted positively to the data and emphasized the need to sustain progress while addressing remaining gaps.

On finance, district CFO Linda Zeman presented preliminary year-end FY24–25 financials and the amended FY25–26 starting budget. Zeman reported the district closed FY24–25 with expenditures near the approved budget and about $126,000 unspent. The district had used prior carryover funds in FY24–25 to cover cost increases (for example, health insurance), leaving a smaller carryover this year.

Zeman and other staff described the $6.5 million the city provided after the budget vote: $2.0 million was reserved for the district’s health insurance account and $4.5 million was applied to the general fund to restore positions and benefits. Zeman said the amended FY25–26 general-fund baseline to start planning is approximately $247.1 million, which accounts for the $4.5 million in restored positions. She also said the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) and the mayor indicated that the $4.5 million is part of the district’s minimum budget requirement for the year.

The presentation noted several fiscal stressors to watch—healthcare and special-education costs—but Zeman said the district budget for special education was increased from $10.1 million to $11.7 million this year to better match anticipated expenditures.

Separately, the board approved consolidated school climate policy language recommended by the state and adopted the 2025–26 district goals; those items were approved unanimously during the consent portion of the meeting.

Board members asked clarifying questions about how the accountability data are shared with principals and teachers (the district said principals receive data prior to public release and use it to inform school-improvement planning) and about the number of students whose scores were included in the SAT calculations (official “number of valid scores” entries in the district slides were provided during the presentation). Several board members praised the improvements while reiterating the call for more transparent communication with families about program changes at the school level (for example, concerns raised by parents about perceived changes in dual-language programming at specific schools).