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Board of Education lays out staff and program cuts if health-insurance rise holds
Summary
Superintendent Phil Stevens told the Board of Finance the district faces deep cuts unless a 32.4% health-insurance renewal is reduced: three support specialists, library/media staff, world-language and intervention positions could be eliminated under the worst-case scenario; the board presented three impact scenarios and urged state advocacy.
Phil Stevens, presenting for the Willington Board of Education, told the Board of Finance on March 19 that a steep insurer renewal — currently estimated at 32.4% — would force drastic reductions in staff and programs if it stands.
Stevens said the school board prepared three scenarios tied to different insurance outcomes (impact one: 32.4%; impact two: 22.4%; impact three: 12.4%) and then modeled the cuts required to reach the district’s budget target. "The reductions are in the same exact order on all three impacts," Stevens said, and the first step would be to drain the non‑lapsing account, removing $161,463 "that would be applied to offset the budget and they would have no buffer next year." He added, "When I say they're used every day, they cover classes and they're used pretty much every single day when we have them." He was describing three staff‑support specialist positions that the board would eliminate under the most severe scenario.
Stevens described specific program impacts that would follow if the high insurance increase holds: delaying Chromebook replacements, cutting library purchases, a 10% reduction across many supply lines, elimination of world‑language staffing and paraeducator intervention support and potential reconfiguration of middle‑school schedules that would raise class sizes.
Stevens also flagged special‑education and outplacement costs as major drivers of the budget. He said the district had expected a larger state reimbursement but now expects lower excess‑cost reimbursements (he cited recent reductions in the amount the state returns for outplacement expenses). "Special education is volatile," he told the finance board, and urged the town’s representatives to continue state‑level advocacy.
Board members questioned Stevens about alternatives and contingencies, including whether staff‑support specialists are cheaper than substitutes; Stevens replied that while day‑to‑day substitute costs may be similar, the large difference is in benefits: "If they take family insurance, it costs the board $28,000. That's the huge difference." Multiple members asked for the insurance bid details; Stevens said the district expects bid results early the following week and asked the finance board not to finalize appropriations until those figures are available.
Why it matters: The insurance increase is a single line item with outsized effect across town and school budgets. Stevens said the district hopes bids will reduce the renewal, but if the 32.4% figure remains the board will be forced to choose among painful personnel and program cuts.
Next steps: Stevens said the district will continue outreach to state legislators seeking better funding and that the board will rework the budget if insurance savings arrive from the bid process.
