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Budget Season Begins; Sobering Proposal from Schools

The truth is the town and the school district have been hard at work on their 2025-2026 budgets for months, but in January, the public got a first glimpse. Last week, at a special Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, First Selectman Bill Morrison ran through a budget he called a “work-in-progress.” Of the 35 departments and line items in his budget, he said 14 had been reduced, four had remained the same, and four had gone up by 3% or less. 


While there are still some unknowns in this budget – such as the cost of insurance, which is generally a big budget driver – Morrison said that as of that moment, the town was seeking a .33% increase ($52,949 more than last year). “We’ve worked hard to get it to this point,” Morrison said, reiterating that some numbers may still change, for better or worse. He also claims the town can do this without impacting services or projects.


The VERY preliminary town budget discussed at the January 8, 2025 Board of Selectmen meeting.
The "work-in-progress" Stafford town budget was discussed at the January 8, 2025, Board of Selectmen meeting.

One of the things the town did to keep this side of the budget down was to ask the schools to take on some cost-sharing. At the January 13, 2025, special Board of Education (BOE) meeting that served as a budget workshop, Interim Superintendent Dr. Laura Norbut said that amounts to about $100,000 that was shifted into the school budget. Essentially, the schools will pay for part of the fees associated with the yearly audit, the management of retirement accounts, and the entire cost of the School Resource Officer.  


Dr. Norbut also told the board that to continue with the status quo – rolling this year’s budget into next year without additions – an increase of 9.88% was needed but that she knew such a large increase was not feasible. Instead, she presented a budget increase of 4.53%. 


According to Dr. Norbut, 4.51% of that is due to contractually mandated increases, and just .02% represented changes, such as implementing Effective School Solutions (ESS) therapeutic programming in-district for special education students and changing from SchoolMessenger to Parent Square (a change driven by parent feedback). Ultimately, this budget version would eliminate 11 full-time employees, including English teachers and interventionists.

Budget Drivers for 25-26 Stafford Public Schools
The factors driving budget increases for Stafford Public Schools, as presented at the Jan. 13 special BOE meeting.

Unfunded mandates from the State came up over and over again during the meeting. Most notable is a mandate requiring the schools to inspect their HVAC. The inspections come with their own cost, but any needed repairs would also add to the bottom line. Dr. Norbut also noted that while the proposed budget assumes 70% reimbursement for excess costs (associated with special education) from the State – already lower than Stafford is supposed to receive – the current rumblings from Hartford suggest Stafford may get even less. State Senator Jeff Gordon was present, and by the end of the meeting, he said he knew what his job was. What he can feasibly do about these issues, even as a member of the appropriations committee, remains to be seen.


The Principals from each school spoke about their budgets, as well as the heads of IT, facilities, pupil services, athletics, and so on. They not only spoke about this year’s budget requests but also proposed three-year plans to give the board insight into the long-term needs of the schools. 


When Principal Tim Kinel from Stafford Middle School presented his plan, BOE Secretary Erica Bushior said, “I am concerned how you are cutting two full-time English teachers.” 


“Me too,” Kinel said – a sentiment shared by at least one person sitting behind me. BOE Member Jennifer Biedrzycki followed up, asking how many English teachers would be left. The answer was four, and the cuts would require the school to rethink how it programs the English Language Arts classes. 


 


 

BOE feedback

It was a long, sobering meeting. We’ve included some of the essential highlights from the presentation document below, but we urge you to watch the meeting and go through the presentation carefully. However, don’t expect this version of the budget to make it to the regular BOE meeting on January 27. By the end of the meeting, when Dr. Norbut asked for feedback and guidance, it was clear that many BOE members did not find the budget acceptable. 



Shana Boland pointed to one of the budget priorities laid out by Dr. Norbut: “Provide high-quality educational experiences for all students while maintaining fiscal responsibility.” This budget, Boland said, “does not provide a quality education.” She added, “I can’t go home and look at my kids and accept this.”


Aaron Hoffman said that for 10 years before the 2024-2025 school year, the average school budget increase was just 1.18% per year. “That’s what’s crippling us right now,” he said, adding the budget has no flexibility because of the very small increases over the last decade.


Bushior said, “If I was asked to vote today, there is no way I could approve this budget.” She added that it impacts the “struggling learners” most.


Biedrzycki echoed those sentiments, saying, “I cannot approve this budget based on what’s been presented tonight.” 


Board Chair Sara Kelly said that “everyone is working together” on the budget and that “we want to think of all our students.” She also asked Dr. Norbut what her priorities would be in a revised budget. The Interim Superintendent reiterated that a 9.88% increase is what the district needs and clarified that a revised budget would be higher. 


Boland said, “I don’t think English teachers and interventionalists are the areas that should be cut.” 


Dr. Norbut reminded the board that anything less than the 9.88% would reduce staffing. Normally, she said, additional staffing proposals would be the first line item cut when reducing a budget request, but there are no additional staffing requests in this budget proposal. It’s also worth mentioning that the district lost staff in previous budget cuts that have not been replaced and is currently operating under a budget freeze


So, there is no telling what the budget proposal will look like at the next regular meeting or where it will end up by the time the Board of Finance votes. Public input will, no doubt, be integral to the process. So here is a rundown of the meeting schedule, all of which present opportunities for community members to voice their opinions:


  • BOE, January 27 – The Interim Superintendent will propose a budget, and the BOE will make recommendations

  • BOE, February 10 – Review and Possible Approval of Interim Superintendent’s Proposed Budget

  • BOF – February 19 – Board of Education budget presented to Board of Finance

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