The Board of Education (BOE) approved a $68.8 million budget at its Feb. 6 meeting, translating into a 4.78% increase from the previous year. The budget, along with the Board of Selectmen proposed budget, will now head to the Board of Finance in the next step of the budget process.

The initial BOE budget draft proposal was significantly higher, but administrators pared it down, according to Superintendent Paul Freeman.

“This budget, even though it is a significantly large budget, is still an exercise in compromise,” Freeman said at the Feb meeting.

According to BOE Chair Kathleen Balestracci, increasing costs don’t just affect residents and businesses; school districts are impacted as well.

“This budget represents the resources—staffing and materials—we believe will best meet the needs of the students in our schools and continue our commitment to academic excellence. The increase in this budget represents the impact of a number of cost drivers, including but not limited to increases in medical benefits for a second year in a row and contractual salary increases, but also inflation—as evidenced by increasing budget lines such as transportation and heating.”

Balestracci noted that previous budgets included income from federal COVID-19 funding. That funding has expired.

“In addition, as the federal COVID-19 relief funding has ended, the administration has had to make strategic decisions about resources supported by those funds,” Balestracci said.

Employee salaries and benefits were two of the biggest cost drivers, according to Balestracci. There were increases in salaries for teachers and administrators in recent contracts, with the costs of heating and transportation, among other expenses, that led to an increase.

Balestracci also noted other factors driving costs up for all municipalities and school boards.

“I appreciate that our administration continues to find ways to decrease the budget and fund really important work in this district in other ways,” said Balestracci at the Feb. 6 BOE budget meeting. “Lastly, I would like to note that inflation is now at 6.5%, and that has had an impact on our thinking and calculating budgets. Many districts, as they get to voting on their budgets…are finding themselves in likewise challenging positions around some of these drivers that I’ve mentioned.”

The Board of Finance will hold a public hearing for the proposed budgets on Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. Budget workshops are planned for Thursday, March 9, and Monday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m. The hearing and the workshops will be held at the Community Center and broadcast on Zoom.