District CFO: Norwalk schools’ spending on track
Budget half-spent so far, expenses up 7.9% from this time last year
NORWALK — Halfway through this fiscal year, Norwalk Public Schools has used about half of its budget as the district creates a spending plan for 2024-25.
Lunda Asmani, chief financial officer for the district, said in a school board meeting Tuesday that the district’s spending is on track.
“Our total spend so far is about 47 percent, as opposed to 50 percent, which is consistent with where we would be this time of year,” Asmani said.
The discussion occurs ahead of the city’s discussion of the school board’s recommended $289.1 million operating budget for next fiscal year. This proposal would include $245.09 million from the city’s general fund, an 8.2 percent requested increase from 2023-24.
So far this fiscal year, across the salaries, benefits, professional and technical services, property services, other services, supplies and materials, equipment, and other objects categories, the district has spent $107.2 million.
While overall spending is up 7.9 percent compared to this time last year, the savings in some spending categories is considerable.
Equipment expenses, at about $154,000 each month, are down about 41.7 percent from this time last year. Supplies and materials are about $494,000 monthly and are down just under 20.6 percent from this time last year.
So far, the CFO said the main spending drivers are the salaries and benefits budget lines, which are about 43 percent and 50 percent spent, respectively.
Costing the district $16.4 million monthly, salary spend is up 9.7 percent
over last year because of positions added last fiscal year that were paid for with COVID-19 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, Asmani said.
Despite the increase in salary spend and the expiration of the district's pandemic ESSER and American Rescue Plan Act funds, officials have said it won't have a major impact on next fiscal year's budget or staffing levels.
“Norwalk Public Schools isn't seeing an impact to the budget for FY 2024-25 because the majority of costs that we were covering with ARPA/ESSER funds were absorbed back into the local budget this fiscal year,” said Emily Morgan, media relations specialist for the district, in early January.
The highest year-overyear spending increase is for “other services” at 22.5 percent growth — at $1.7 million each month, it costs the district nearly $15 million less monthly than salaries.
In addition to salaries and benefits being main budget drivers, the student population also plays a large role, according to Adam Reynolds, principal at West Rocks Middle School.
Norwalk Public Schools switched to a school-based budget process in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, allowing each school to get a different budget allocation based on its specific needs.
“One of the main things that drives a school-based budget is enrollment,” Reynolds said in the meeting.
Year over year since 2021, Norwalk Public Schools' student population has increased. In October 2021, the district had 11,458 students. This past December, NPS counted 11,646 students. The district projects 11,917 by October 2024.
The district bears this in mind as it finalizes school-based budgets until April before the school board approves a final district budget in June, officials said.