The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Schools, selectmen present budget plans at public hearing
BARKHAMSTED — Members of the public joined the boards of finance, education and selectmen, along with Region 7’s school board, for an online public hearing on their proposed budgets for the coming year.
General fund budget
First Selectman Don Stein reviewed a proposed $2.223 million municipal budget for 2021-22, a 1 percent increase over the current spending.
Increases in the municipal budget, Stein said, are small because many Barkhamsted residents have paid their taxes, and because federal and CARES Act funding is being used to supplement some expenses.
He said the town is awaiting word on how much supplemental funding it will receive, and is planning to take advantage of a recent executive order that allows towns to delay passing budgets until that funding is announced.
“We were able to complete some paving projects this
year, as well as replacement of Barkhamsted School’s 10,000-gallon heating oil tank,” the first selectman said. “Salaries and benefits equal 45 percent of our budget; employees got step increases, but at the same time they are paying more for their share of health benefits. There’s been no increases to workers’ comp, dental or life insurance.”
Barkhamsted school budget
The budget for Barkhamsted School, which serves grades K-6, totals $4,448,156, an increase of $121,762, or 2.81 percent, over current levels.
Staff and teacher salaries increased by 0.21 percent, from $2,012,363 to $2,016, 557; benefits from $568,697 to $588,097, or 3.42 percent; special education from $1,054,493 to $1,127,718; and transportation from $265,297 to $273,753.
Education expenses, which include the salary for the school’s information technology specialist, software and associated fees, library books and periodicals, textbooks, staff development programs, office and teaching supplies, and postage, have also increased, from $247,302 to $273,753 for 2021-22.
Jim Agostine, chairman of the Barkhamsted Board of Education, said the challenges of the pandemic resulted in several staffing decisions that are in place for the coming year.
“We sent our kids home on March 12, 2020, and we didn’t see them again until September,” he said. “We lost 60 days of direct instruction, and because the kids were at a time in their education where reading and social, emotional learning is taking place, it was completely fractured. We had no idea how the pandemic was going to impact us.
“The we learned in June 2020 that the state wanted a reopening plan by July 23,” he said. “We had to take some dramatic steps to manage that, that would work for our school . ... We had to clear our classrooms for social distancing. We had to rent a full-size trailer to compensate for that needed space.”
The school board also hired a permanent substitute teacher. “We were having a terrible time getting substitutes, and hiring one full-time has been a godsend,” Agostine said.
In the 2021-22 school year, all classes in grades K-6 are “doubleton,” Agostine said, meaning there will be two classrooms for each grade. “We will have two full-time kindergarten teachers, with 28 children in each class,” he said.
Region 7 Board of Education
According to Region 7 school board chairperson Molly Sexton Read, the district’s budget is showing a 1.5 percent increase overall, rising from $22,061,535 in 2020-21 to a proposed spending plan totaling $22,391,698.
In Region 7, each town’s share of the budget is based on enrollment — and Barkhamsted has the largest share at 5.43 percent for the coming year, totaling $6,300,720, an increase of $324,389.
New Hartford’s share is $10,236,905, a decrease of 1.5 percent over the 2020-21 amount of $10,440,023. Colebrook’s share for 2021-22 is $2,023,574, a 4.2 percent increase. Norfolk’s share has also decreased to $1,614,017, or 5.24 percent.
Changes to school district spending, Read said, is based on lower enrollment and academic course requirements, particularly for seniors.
“In response to the high school reform act and state graduation requirements, we switched some of the middle school staff into the high school to help them prepare for graduation,” Read said. “We also have reconfigured our special education staffing by adding a 10-month position for a supervisor of special education, and a reduced teaching position.”
Salaries and benefits have increased by 65 percent, she said, with contractual raises and increases in health benefits.
Read concurred with Stein and Agostine about anticipated CARES Act money, and other types of supplemental funding.
“It makes sense to wait and see what the American Rescue Plan is going to look like,” she said.
Resident Dave Moulton agreed. “I think with the hundreds of thousands of dollars being thrown at us by the federal government, it’s our responsibility to push our budgets out to the very last second, if we can,” he said.
The Barkhamsted Board of Finance is holding a budget meeting May 25, following this idea of delaying any approvals or votes.
“Overall, the school and municipal budgets result in a 31.61 tax rate or and increase of .084 mills, or 2.72 percent,” Stein said. “The board of finance will hold a special meeting on May 11, to make sure we get the most updated information on funding. The executive order allows us to delay our town meeting beyond what’s required, and we’re going to take advantage of that.”
Residents can view the municipal, school and Region 7 budgets at barkhamsted.us, by clicking on the “Annual Town Meeting” link, found on the home page under News and Announcements.