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Superintendent says budget request stays modest; $55,000 sought for student enrichment
Summary
Regional School District 12’s superintendent told the board the proposed budget increase is 2.96% — below recent CPI inflation — and highlighted that roughly 97% of the budget is fixed, leaving about 3% discretionary; the administration is asking for $55,000 in targeted enrichment items within that discretionary slice.
Superintendent Don O'Leary told the Regional School District 12 board at a March 9 workshop that the district’s budget request is 2.96%, which he said is below the consumer-price-index inflation figure he cited (about 3.1%). He emphasized that much of the district’s spending is not discretionary: “97% of our budget is comprised of fixed costs,” he said, and only a small slice — roughly 3% — is where the board can exercise meaningful choices.
O'Leary said the administration is requesting $55,000 in new money for enrichment and curricular items and described that ask as “modest,” adding that it was achieved by offsetting increases elsewhere. He said the district identified about $1,200,000 in cost increases this cycle and asked for an additional $879,000 after finding savings, which includes the $55,000 enrichment request.
Nicole Grant of the business/finance staff walked the board through object-code exhibits, explaining that some lines marked in red reflect discretionary cuts made this year to absorb broader cost increases. She described an accounting shift in special education: the district will bring occupational and physical therapists in-house effective July 1, moving approximately $148,000 from purchased services into staff salaries and causing the special-education department line to appear lower while special-education spending overall rises by about 23.78%.
Grant and O'Leary also flagged accounting changes driven by a raised capital threshold (from $5,000 to $10,000), which moved some previously capitalized work into the operating budget. Examples of operating-line maintenance and repair items noted in the presentation included lighting and ceiling-panel replacements, fire-magnet door work required by the fire marshal, HVAC and electrical repairs, and fencing and painting cycles; staff provided line-item cost estimates for each project.
O'Leary placed the local request in state context, citing Connecticut’s Horton v Meskel precedent and the state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula. He illustrated how ECS allocations have differed for sending towns, listing Bridgewater ($187,000), Roxbury ($219,000) and Washington ($337,000) as recent examples of aid returning to sending towns.
Board members asked for more detail on program-level changes: Jesse Lubman requested a fuller articulation of the elementary world-language expansion and the district’s use of virtual “breakout room” instructional software; O'Leary said details will be developed with principals and relevant committees. Members also pressed for clarification on specific line moves and the district’s ability to tighten particular department budgets.
The board did not take formal votes on the budget at the workshop. O'Leary said staff will continue refining exhibits and that several items — including the requested enrichment funds and the effects of the accounting moves — will be clarified before later budget hearings.
