Norwich Free Academy trustees approve a $34.7 million 2017-18 budget

Changes include a 1.62 percent spending increase and a 2.5 percent tuition increase

Norwich — The Norwich Free Academy board of trustees unanimously approved a $34.7 million budget for the 2017-18 school year with a $554,491, or 1.62 percent, spending increase but a 2.5 percent tuition increase for the eight school districts that use NFA as their designated high school.

The districts with designated high school contracts with NFA were told to anticipate 2.5 percent increases in each of the first three years of the five-year contract. The 2017-18 school year is the final year in that projection.

The budget calls for no new programs or staffing, except for upgrading one college and career counselor position from part time to full time, NFA officials said. The position had been full time until a retirement two years ago, when it was reduced to part time, NFA spokesman Geoff Serra said. The work load required the upgrade, Serra said.

The operating budget also will be subsidized with a $1.2 million contribution from the private NFA Foundation, a contribution that has become common in recent years.

The private foundation has contributed a total of $5.9 million to the operating budget over the past five years, including $1.2 million in each of the past four years and $1.1 mil-

lion the year before that, Serra said.

Regular education tuition will be $12,573 per student next school year, with tuition at the Sachem Campus transitional program set at $27,461. Special education tuition will range from $18,508 to $67,168 per student, depending on the program and individual needs.

Norwich tuition will be $200 lower per student across the board to compensate the city for host town services including police and fire coverage. The other seven partner districts — Bozrah, Canterbury, Franklin, Lisbon, Preston, Sprague and Voluntown — will pay the higher tuition levels.

Enrollment next year is projected at 2,271, down by 57 students, the result of an anticipated freshman class of 550 students replacing the 2016-17 senior class of 607 students. But Serra said NFA made the same projection of a 550-student freshman class this year, and by October, the actual count was 592.

As with all school budgets, salaries comprise the highest portion of the NFA budget, totaling $28 million for the 195 faculty, 11 administrators and 93 staff positions. Maintenance costs total $3.69 million, about 10.6 percent of the budget, and instructional supplies will cost $3 million, 8.7 percent of the budget.

Along with the budget, the NFA trustees approved a package of campus improvement projects for this summer totaling $381,000. The list is headed by the $170,000 cost to replace the older section of the Bradlaw Building roof, a $60,000 plan to build a third campus safety booth at the east gate entrance behind the Sidney Frank Building and $40,000 to refurbish the Alumni Gymnasium. Another $30,000 would upgrade humidity controls in the storage area of the Slater Museum.

Serra said the board also approved a plan to demolish a house the academy purchased last year at 49 Carroll Ave. Serra said there are no plans for the space. The academy has a longstanding policy of acquiring properties along its Carroll Avenue campus border as they become available to expand the campus.