North Branford's Board of Education (BOE) has approved a proposed $33,130,121.28  operating budget for the 2021-22 school year, an annual spending increase of 2.14 percent. The BOE has also approved a proposed capital expense request of $102,734 for the next academic year. 

The BOE's recommendations have been submitted to the Town Council to be reviewed as part of the Town's annual budget deliberation process, which begins Tues. March 16 and has a public hearing scheduled for Tues. April 6. The BOE's operating and capital budgets are currently scheduled for Town Council review on Tues. March 30. All meeting times are at 7 p.m.

The BOE votes were taken on Feb. 4 at the second of three scheduled BOE budget workshops (if needed). The first workshop was held Jan. 28 and provided the BOE with a review of three different budget scenarios proposed by Superintendent of Schools Scott Schoonmaker together with Tracy Wootton, Director of Curriculum and Instruction; Martha Vaughn, Director of Business and Personnel, and input from administrators from the town's four schools.

The district's 2021-2022 budget priorities include maintaining effective class sizes, to continue and expand its social-emotional curriculum, continue to explore and expand STEM instruction, to explore a bringing in a manufacturing initiative to expand skilled labor opportunities for students, and to continue to develop core instructional programs throughout the district.

Choosing Budget Scenario Two

The BOE was presented with three budget scenarios on January 28. The first was a "status quo" budget with a 1.58 percent annual increase. 

The second scenario, ultimately approved by the BOE on Feb. 4, allows for the district to continue all current curriculum programming and most support programming. It also includes partial cost coverage for an expiring School Improvement Grant (SIG) which ends June 30, 2021 and currently covers the salary of two instructional coaches and several para-professionals. The budget approved by the BOE on Feb. 4 allows the district to continue one $80,000 instructional coach position at North Branford High School (NBHS), as well as to continue 1.5  paraprofessional positions at NBIS (an instructional position of $20,455 and a Special Education Inclusion position at $10,227). It also incorporates a staff request of $62,840 to bring a new Life Skills teacher to Jerome Harrison Elementary School (JHS) to support increased enrollment. The budget also incorporates $2,000 stipends for each of the Dean of Student positions at the town's four schools (currently filled as voluntary roles by teachers).

The district decided against budget scenario 3, which sought an annual increase of 3.09 percent. In addition to the status quo and additions built into scenario 2, the third scenario called for adding a world language teacher, an instructional coach (thereby covering the loss of the second coaching position currently paid by the SIG grant), a curriculum coordinator and a special education coordinator at the elementary level.

The seven member BOE voted 6-0-1 to recommend the $33.13 million 2020-21 operating budget to the Town Council. Voting in favor were BOE chair Shawna Papa-Holzer, vice-chair Marcey Onofrio, secretary Elizabeth Siena and members Jana Balsamo, Vincent Mase, and Jeffrey Macmillen. BOE member Cynthia Rice abstained due to being absent for the January 28 operating budget presentation.

Capital Expenses for School Projects

With several projects completed this year and work on the new high school facility set to begin in June, Schoonmaker said the district was able to develop a "quite thin" capital expense request of $102,734 for school building projects in the 2021-22 school year.

The plan calls for an estimated $73,000 to complete electrical installation of 16 air conditioning and heating ventilator units at Totoket Valley Elementary School (TVES). It also builds in $18,000 for the installation of a playground at TVES. Schoonmaker noted the entire playground project has a price tag of $27,216 but approximately $9,000 of that cost is being offset by a generous donation from the TVES PTO.

In addition, the capital expense request includes installing two oil burners at TVES at a cost of $6,116 per unit, or approximately $12,500.

The proposed $102,734 capital expense budget was approved by a 7-0 vote of the BOE on Feb. 4, to be sent on to the Town Council as part of its budget review.