DID YOU KNOW?   SUPERINTENDENT’S BUDGET PROPOSAL

The Superintendent of Schools has recommended a budget to the Region 15 Board of Education in the amount of $60,450,159 for the 2008-2009 school year. The following outlines the 7.69% increase in his spending plan. Of that, 6.41% is earmarked for foundation expenditures while 1.28% is for program improvements.

Budget Goals:

·               Strengthen the intervention continuum of services for those children, grades K-12, who struggle with their studies. The first phase focuses on reading but would be expanded over time to incorporate math programs.

·               Expand World Language offerings at Pomperaug High School to include Latin and Mandarin Chinese.

·               Address some class size pressure points at Pomperaug High School and Middlebury Elementary School.

·               Make facility improvements at all schools.

·               Improve student transportation services to bus children to school safely and in a timely fashion.

·               Support professional development for teachers and staff.

·               Address State and Federal mandates.

The Superintendent’s Recommended Budget Addresses the Following Needs:

Foundation – Increase of $3,599,335 or 6.41% 

  These expenditures are needed to operate the base instructional program in 2008-09. These include: Salaries, Insurances, Instructional Support, Pupil Transportation, Non-Instructional Support, Building Maintenance, and Debt Service Interest.

  The line items that drive the majority of this increase are the rise in costs for insurances, electricity, and heating oil.

Improvements – Increase of $719,600 or 1.28%

  This number includes part-time and full-time staff additions to accommodate State/Federal Mandates, Intervention Continuum, Early Childhood Program, Safety and Infrastructure, Academic Program Improvements, Class Size, and Enrollment issues.

  For example, one full-time staff member and two part-time suspension substitutes for the middle schools have been added to this proposal to accommodate the State mandate requiring in-school suspensions. Also, two full-time (FTE) staff positions are recommended to serve as resources to attain Adequate Yearly Progress under the 2002 Federal mandate “No Child Left Behind”. There is a net increase of 3.5 FTE positions after staff reallocations to provide extra support and accelerate the learning of those students K-12 who need academic intervention. To alleviate some classroom size issues, 1.0 FTE Grade Two teacher at Middlebury Elementary School, and 0.4 FTE Social Studies and 0.2 FTE Math teachers at Pomperaug High School have been recommended.