Teacher turnover and reduced special education spending means towns in the Region 4 School District will see some school funds returned this year. Following its annual audit, the Region 4 Board of Education approved a report on Jan. 5 that reflected a surplus of $157,046 from the 2015-2016 academic year.

The surplus was split and distributed to the district’s sinking funds and refunded to the member towns. In accordance with Region 4 Board of Education policy, 50 percent of the total surplus, or $78,528, went toward the sinking funds with $26,175 allocated to paving, $26,174 to flooring, and $26,174 to Field and Repair. The remaining half of the surplus was refunded to the member towns based on their contributions as follows: $18,838 refunded to Chester, $24,876 to Deep River, and $34,809 to Essex.

“A lot of the savings came from staff changes, such as retirements, and changes in paraeducator needs,” said Chris Riley, chairman of the Region 4 Board of Education.

Changes in special education needs, such as a lower demand for one-to-one paraprofessionals, allowed several positions to be eliminated. As new teachers can be employed at lower rates than those closer to retirement, the changeover in staff also allowed for savings in teacher cost. No programming was changed in order to save the district money.

“Budgets are not an exact science,” said Region 4 Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Levy. “They are an estimate of our needs for the coming year, but there are things that cause swings. One year it worked out that the special education expenditures were not as high as needed typically—that can change tomorrow.

“You cannot equate declining enrollment with a declining budget,” continued Levy, citing building costs, contract costs, operational costs, incoming classes, and health insurance variables as some of the factors that can increase year to year. “You still need teachers in classrooms, whether that classroom has 17 or 19 students.”

Levy noted that although there is overall declining enrollment in the district’s schools, this is mostly seen in the elementary schools and won’t be seen at the middle and high schools for another two years or so. She also noted that the planning and implementation of the budget was a collaborative effort between communities and boards of education, finance, and selectmen in the tri-town area.

“I feel blessed the community supports us,” said Levy. “The board along with administration make excellent decisions for providing resources for our students and educators while maintaining fiscal responsibility. If you’re not keeping up with initiatives and thinking forward, you are actually thinking backwards, especially in the very technologically different world these students will have to develop skills for.”

The audit was conducted by accounting firm Mahoney and Sabol.