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Community Corner

School Board Chops Budget Request by More than $1 Million

The board of education votes to ask the city for a reduced 2011-2012 budget increase of $1.7 million.

At a special meeting at Lincoln Middle School Tuesday night, the Meriden school board unanimously voted to send a reduced budget increase request of 1.73 percent to the city council. That request is down from the board's original request of 2.78 percent over this year’s budget. Last week, however, City Manager Lawrence Kendzior unveiled a city budget proposal that reflects no increase whatsoever for education next year.

Even with a 1.73 percent budget increase, 26 grant-funded positions (19 certified and 7 classified) will have to be cut next year, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Benigni said.

Kendzior has also proposed that the board of education assume the cost of unemployment benefits in July, 2011, which could add an additional $450,000 to the already strained budget.

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Although the school board managed to chop more than a million dollars from its last budget proposal, the new budget still reflects an increase of $1,722,994 over this year for a total of $101,331,334.

Benigni outlined the following savings reflected in the new proposed education budget:

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  • The city will save approximately $547,488 in reimbursements from the state for students placed in special-education programs, magnet schools and vocational schools. Expenses for those students surpass the average cost for a Meriden public-school student. The school board originally budgeted for a 60% reimbursement of those excess costs, but the state reimbursement rate has since been set at 80%.
  • Health care costs will be $148,849 less than the board of education had estimated, according to projections from Meriden’s city manager.
  • Another $100,000 will be saved by using college interns as school-based tutors. Four students earning master’s degrees in education will serve as tutors in the secondary schools.
  • Coordinating substitute teachers in-house rather than using an outside service will save $200,000. “We may be giving up a successful fill rate by doing this,” Benigni explained, but the savings will be significant.
  • An additional $10,000 in savings results from two retirees who declined to accept $5,000 towards health insurance because they found less-expensive options.
  • Proposed spending increases for Thomas Edison Magnet School have been reduced by $266,317.

These savings will be offset by a $222,928 increase in the cost of heating oil, Benigni said. Oil now costs 60 cents a gallon more than it did in December when the budget projections were originally made.

The school board plans to post the proposed education budget on its website for public viewing, Benigni said. “We want to be as transparent as possible. The more informed you are,” he told the public, “the better decisions you can make.”

 

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