Region 15 board reviews proposed 2025–26 budget; superintendent recommends facilities, data roles amid ECS uncertainty

Superintendent presented Regional School District 15’s proposed 2025–26 budget Monday and described a plan that preserves current programs while adding targeted staff and capital spending to address aging facilities and data-management gaps.

The superintendent told the board the proposed budget “addresses all of the staffing needs” and aims to smooth historically underfunded accounts over multiple years rather than defer costs. He recommended restoring a director of facilities position (estimated at about $125,000 annually) and adding roughly $100,000 a year to the district’s operating capital account to begin a multiyear program of HVAC and roof replacements. He said many HVAC units — “especially at the high school… from 1979” — are near end of life and a planned replacement schedule preserves the district’s ability to seek state reimbursement.

Why it matters: Board members said they want to avoid sudden class-size increases and to protect in-class supports while the district manages inflation, rising health-insurance costs and an unsettled state reimbursement picture for special-education excess costs (the “excess cost” reimbursement that districts receive from Hartford).

Highlights and major provisions

- New positions recommended: a director of facilities (new/reenacted position at roughly $125,000), one middle-school collaborative-learning teacher (to create a middle-school collaborative learning program), and a back-end data manager (replacing an unfilled central-office support post; estimated net salary increase ~$30,000 and 0.0 net FTE change). The superintendent described the data manager as “the back end data person” to make data reports usable and reduce manual work by interventionists and principals.

- Capital and maintenance: the operating capital line currently has $475,000. The administration proposed starting a trend of adding $100,000 annually to that line to establish a multiyear funding source for major repairs and to allow the district to apply for state reimbursement when projects are planned rather than handled as emergencies.

- Insurance and benefits: Health insurance costs are projected to increase about 13% — the largest jump in several years — and the administration said that figure is baked into the proposal.

- State special-education reimbursement (excess-cost): Administrators said state legislators recently appropriated $40 million that, if released, would raise current-year excess-cost reimbursement from about 60% toward 72%. The superintendent and business staff reported they are budgeting next year using an assumption nearer 72% based on current legislative movement but kept a special-education contingency line in case state action does not materialize.

Board questions and concerns

Board members pressed for clarity on how staffing shifts would affect class sizes and classroom space. Board member Heather Dwyer asked whether a position shown as a net +1 at Longmeadow Elementary was truly new or the reallocation of an unfilled position; administration said one FTE is currently unfilled and that, from a budget perspective, some moves are budget-neutral because salaries are already in the plan.

Several members raised concerns about classroom physical capacity: even if the budget funds an additional section, some buildings (Longmeadow, PES and MES were discussed by name) lack spare classrooms to host new sections. The superintendent acknowledged those constraints and said facility capacity will figure into future planning.

Data systems and timeline

The superintendent described a renewed push for a district-level data warehouse and said staff plan to license a mature product with an expected annual licensing cost of about $18,000. He said the district intends to use existing funds to start the contract this year and to phase professional-development and back-end work. The proposed data manager would support integration of multiple sources (PowerSchool, NWEA/NWEA-like assessments, Smart/Balance and local spreadsheets) and help produce teacher- and parent-facing reports sooner than today’s largely manual processes.

Budget risk and contingencies

Administrators said the single largest external risk is the state’s handling of the excess-cost reimbursement. The superintendent said the district has a special-education contingency line and would delay some initiatives or freeze spending if the reimbursement did not improve; however, he and finance staff expressed moderate confidence the legislature will act before final budget deadlines.

Ending note

The board scheduled follow-up budget workshops and analytics sessions; administrators said the full budget book and slide deck would be posted on the district website the next morning, and the administration will post a running list of questions and answers for subsequent workshops.