School leaders flag health‑insurance pressures; seed and DRIP grants noted
Summary
The superintendent told the finance committee the district is on pace but expects notable pressure from rising health‑insurance costs and outlined two incoming grants: an approximately $17,000 seed grant for special education and a roughly $57,000 DRIP grant for maintenance work.
At the Nov. 20 meeting the Board of Education report (presented to the finance committee) said school expenditures are largely on target but flagged health‑insurance costs as a major budget pressure for the coming year.
Superintendent David Russo said the district’s budget was tracking similarly to previous years but that brokers and peers were reporting a wide range of projected insurance increases — some districts were hearing 43%–64% increases while the committee’s broker advised planning for roughly 14%–17%. Russo said the finance team intends to budget about 17% as a planning estimate for next year.
Russo also summarized grants the district expects: a seed grant (reported in the packet at approximately $17,000) to support students with individualized education plans and a DRIP grant (reported at roughly $57,000) anticipated to fund maintenance and repairs; details and access timing for the DRIP grant were described as 'probably mid to late spring.' The superintendent said building principals and department leaders had begun budget meetings and emphasized careful, targeted requests in light of tight townwide finances.
Committee members discussed how to present these details to the public and suggested communications items (summary pages, videos and outreach) to improve transparency ahead of budget hearings.
