Danbury superintendent seeks $194 million budget to fund new DHS West campus, hiring and special‑education costs

Dr. Casimero, Danbury School District superintendent, on Wednesday presented a proposed $194,000,000 budget for the 2025–26 school year and described a roughly $34,400,000 increase he said represents about a 21% rise over the current plan. He told the district’s Community Relations Committee the request is driven by rising contractual costs, new staffing tied to a DHS West satellite campus, growing special‑education needs, and transportation and safety expenses.

The budget matters because it funds services for more than 12,000 students, Casimero said, and the district has seen steady enrollment growth alongside rising needs: he said 38% of district students are multilingual learners, 49% of newly enrolling students are second‑language learners, 57% are economically disadvantaged, and special‑education enrollments have risen to about 15%. "If all else fails, these are the 4 or 5 things that we're gonna work on this year and try to do them really well," Casimero said.

Casimero outlined the district’s six strategic priorities — teaching and learning, staff development, talent acquisition, school climate, family engagement and resource allocation — and said the budget aligns to those priorities. He described a more building‑based budget development process and said the district is replacing one‑time ARPA funding and restoring positions cut in prior years. He said the district reduced about 68 positions last year, though only about two were direct layoffs; many reductions were the result of not backfilling vacancies.

Opening the DHS West satellite campus is a major driver. Casimero said the campus will bring roughly 800 students at opening and will require new staff across many roles — teachers, special‑education staff, counselors, nurses, custodians and food‑service workers — and he estimated the district will add about 20–28 buses at roughly $70,000–$80,000 each to support tiered start times. He said the project’s operational cost figure discussed in the meeting was $10,000,000 "including staff." Asked how many staff would move, he said roughly 70 staff will be assigned to the new campus but emphasized many current staff must remain at the existing Danbury High School to meet student needs.

Casimero highlighted paraeducators as a targeted hiring priority, saying the district’s starting rate had been about $16 an hour and that the budget includes a competitive para staffing model. He said the district hopes to add about 45 paraprofessionals (roughly one per kindergarten classroom across 13 elementary schools) and estimated an incremental cost for the paraprofessional bargaining unit around $2,300,000 and associated benefits of about $1,200,000.

Special‑education costs and out‑of‑district tuition increases are another key pressure, Casimero said, and he described statewide concern over rising placement rates. He also described internal audit findings from recent years and said he and Chief Financial Officer Mike Weaver are strengthening internal controls and maintaining an open dialogue with the city about finances. Casimero said the city provided one‑time ARPA support in the prior year and that the district has set aside $7,500,000 in one‑time funds for technology, infrastructure and other startup needs tied to the satellite campus.

Questions from the public and committee members focused on class size, how the new campus affects staffing and operational savings, the location of alternative programs (Reach and Endeavor), school‑lunch procurement and federal funding risk. Casimero noted the district receives about $8–$9 million in direct federal grants (Title I, IDEA, Title II, Title III and related programs) and said the district is monitoring federal and state policy changes and their potential effect on state funding streams such as ECS. "Right now, there's been no disruption to our services," he said, but added the district is watching developments closely.

No formal action or vote on the budget occurred during the presentation; Casimero said the district will make hiring decisions once it receives the city allocation and will continue to negotiate contracts this summer. He invited written questions after the meeting and said staff would provide follow‑up information on specific staffing and operational breakouts upon request.