East Haven budget workshop: Officials warn $6.9M gap as health and special-education costs surge

At a budget workshop, district staff told the East Haven School Board that a proposed budget increase — about $6.9 million, roughly a 14% request — is largely the result of rising special-education salaries and sharply higher health‑insurance costs.

A board member opened the session by asking what would happen if the district did not receive the requested revenue; a district official replied that only ‘‘a drastic change’’ would make up the shortfall and that isolated reductions — for example, eliminating coaches or switching to pay‑to‑play athletics — would not close the gap without harming class size, programming and operations.

Why it matters: The district said its medical‑insurance reserve is depleted and carries contractual obligations. Officials said the district’s experience profile within a health‑insurance consortium has worsened, increasing per‑district allocations. Staff described the district’s current stop‑loss threshold as about $500,000 and said competing carriers sought higher thresholds ($750,000 to $1 million), which would shift more claim costs onto the district.

District…