New Milford’s proposed budget includes three new teachers
NEW MILFORD — A $71 million budget proposed by outgoing Interim Superintendent JeanAnn Paddyfote accounts for the hiring of three new elementary teachers as well as increases in health insurance and transportation costs in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Budget development began in October. New Milford Public Schools held two workshops last week to allow the public to hear about the proposal.
“We as an administrative team and a district feel very strongly that everything we’re doing today needs to continue next year,” Paddyfote said at the Jan. 17 workshop.
The proposed budget totals $71,175,030, which is a 5.03 percent, or $3,407,741, increase over the 2022-23 school year budget.
Out of the increase, Paddyfote said $3,074,128 is from rollover funds — money that was taken the 2022-23 budget to reinvest in next year’s budget.
The remaining $333,613 would come from new budget items, such as salaries and benefits for the three new elementary school teachers, curriculum revisions for Architectural Drafting I and II classes at New Milford High School, a kiln at Schaghticoke Middle School and a bus app that would allow parents to check whether their child boarded the bus and then track the bus.
The proposed 2023-24 budget has “a modest increase to adhere to class size practices” by adding two second-grade teachers — one at Northville Elementary School and one at Hill and Plain Elementary School — and one
fourth grade teacher at Sarah Noble Intermediate School, Paddyfote said.
Increases in salaries, health insurance and transportation costs are the three predominant drivers for the 5.03 percent increase in her 202324 budget plan, Paddyfote said. Salaries would increase by $1,276,893, while health insurance costs would increase by $995,998 and transportation costs would increase by $930,016 in the budget.
The salary increase would be due to the three new teaching positions, Paddyfote said. In addition to providing health insurance for the three new teachers, the health insurance increase would be due to actuarial advised rate increases for dental insurance, the Humana Vision Plan and the Employee Assistance Program through CIGNA, among other plans.
“We are the largest town in the state areawise, so transportation has always been a very large number for New Milford,” Paddyfote said.
The rise in transportation costs would include $438,439 more for general education transportation
costs; $438,577 more for transportation costs for out-of-district special education placements; and proposed athletic transportation increases of $30,000 for New Milford High School and $14,000 for Schaghticoke Middle School, she said.
A $9,000 increase was also proposed for vocational agriculture transportation to supplement the $57,000 already in the 2022-23 year’s budget in hopes of adding a van to provide enhanced out-ofdistrict service if the district finds a vendor, Paddyfote said.
A third budget workshop will be held in the library of Sarah Noble Intermediate School at 7 p.m. Jan. 24. The school board will then vote on whether to adopt the budget at 7 p.m. Jan. 25.
If the Jan. 24 workshop is canceled due to bad weather, the workshop would be Jan. 25 and continue on Jan. 26.
To see videos of the first two budget workshops and a copy of Paddyfote’s 2023-24 proposed budget, visit the New Milford Public Schools website at www.newmilfordps.org/ budget.