Wethersfield Board approves $67.47 million operating budget; members flag lack of elementary school security guards

The Wethersfield Board of Education on a motion approved an operating budget of $67,468,339 for the 2025–26 school year.

The board approved the budget after discussion about what the approved amount will and will not cover. Superintendent Michael Emmett told the board, “We certainly did not get everything we were looking for. However, we are able to save all of our positions, including the social work position.” He also said the district plans to use remaining funds to continue the ACAP program, roll out Agile Minds math for grades 7–12 and to “bring in a part time speech pathologist or a contract to provide speech and language services for our preschool” to start preschool support.

The budget vote followed several members’ objections that the town funding fell short on specific safety and staffing requests. “I am concerned that we were not able to get any security guards for our schools,” said Board member Marjorie during discussion, noting the district had sought security coverage for elementary schools in addition to existing coverage at the middle and high schools. Board member Matt and others framed the shortfall as part of broader local funding limitations and the town’s need to weigh taxpayer capacity; Matt said the town council “gave us what they felt was responsible” amid competing resident priorities.

Board discussion recapped other funding context: the board increased its overall request year over year but said most of the added dollars go to salary and benefits. Officials also cited structural constraints in state-level education funding and local tax-base limitations that reduced available town contributions. The superintendent and finance committee said the district will manage with the approved budget and hope to end the fiscal year with a surplus for later allocation.

The motion to approve the operating budget carried on a voice vote; board members present voted to approve and no recorded abstentions were noted.

Looking ahead, board members urged earlier engagement with town leaders in future budget cycles so school priorities (including personnel and safety requests) can be built into town deliberations sooner.

Notes: the board previewed other action items tied to the budget, including applications for grants that require town-council actions and a pending date (June 16) when the town council will set a referendum date tied to the school building project.