Darien superintendent presents modest 3.88% fiscal 2027 budget; board schedules detailed reviews

Darien Superintendent Dr. Byrne on Thursday presented a recommended fiscal 2027 budget that would raise the district’s total to $130,640,433, a 3.88% increase over the current year. He described the proposal as "fiscally responsible" and driven by student needs and strategic priorities.

Dr. Byrne said the budget is the administration’s recommended package and that “at no point during this process, unless there is some seismic change, what you see is what we’re recommending right now.” The superintendent told the Board of Education the plan reflects work by central and district teams and incorporates community and town feedback gathered in the fall.

The proposal includes several personnel changes intended to align resources with projected enrollment and student need. Dr. Byrne said the plan adds five elementary instructional coaches to support teacher practice across elementary schools and cited specific staffing moves: an additional elementary teacher at Henley and Holmes, a special-education teacher at Middlesex, additional psychologists for the ELP program, and two transportation drivers for special-education outplacements. He said some fractional teaching positions at the high school and a middle-school world language position would be reduced because of enrollment changes; the district said those reductions "will have no impact on program."

Administrators flagged that staffing and health benefits account for about 79% of the budget. To manage benefit costs, the administration is recommending a move to a self-insured healthcare model administered by a third party; Dr. Byrne said the plan would include individual stop-loss insurance with a $250,000 threshold and aggregate stop-loss protection set to a 20% corridor of expected claims.

On contracts and operating costs, the presentation named the teacher contract (DEA) and other negotiated agreements as major drivers of growth and pointed to offsets including assumed turnover (the budget assumes about 35 teacher and 15 paraprofessional vacancies, which the administration said reduces cost by nearly $800,000) and reductions in out‑of‑district special-education tuition and contracted services (net reduction of about $840,000). Fixed costs called out in the presentation included a $287,000 increase in transportation (the presenter cited a 7% contractual increase with First Student) and a $244,000 rise in utilities largely tied to electricity costs.

New program investments shown in the materials include a district‑level public information coordinator (the administration said it will study whether to fill the role as a contracted service or a direct hire), several technology and device replacements, and about $1,900,000 in capital requests (roughly 60% of which the presentation said is for paving projects). The slides also listed a roughly $1,000,000 uplift for new software items, described in the presentation as including some AI-related requests.

Board members praised the clarity of the presentation but pressed for detail. One member asked how the 3.88% increase compared to peer communities; Dr. Byrne said his conversations with neighboring superintendents indicate Darien is below a DIRG average cited in the materials and that Wilton and New Canaan were among the closer comparators. Multiple board members requested a written description of the elementary instructional coaches’ roles, responsibilities, and success metrics and asked for more detail about how reserves would function under the proposed self-insured benefits model to cover lagged claims.

The board set a sequence of follow-up presentations: curriculum and instruction on Jan. 13, special education and athletics on Jan. 20, and operations and capital on Jan. 27. The formal board public hearing on the superintendent’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget is scheduled for Feb. 3; the board is expected to vote on the budget on Feb. 5 and to submit its recommendation to the Board of Finance on Mar. 3.

Public comment was opened; no members of the public spoke in the provided transcript, and the meeting moved toward adjournment.