Spending Increase Sought For Cheshire Schools In Budget Proposal

CHESHIRE, CT — Superintendent of Schools Jeff Solan is seeking a 4.05 percent increase in spending for the district in the 2020-21 school year. Solan presented his budget proposal to the Board of Education last week.

Solan is recommending a $76.3 million budget, which is an increase of about $3 million over the current spending level. Solan said his recommended budget “strives to maintain an exceptional school system, make improvements where needed, and focus on the development of complex thinkers and strong social-emotional learners, yet is balanced against fiscal realities.”

Solan wrote in his budget message to the board that “salaries will increase by 3.04 percent in part due to the addition of several Instructional Assistant positions which were added this year and must be carried into 2020/21 and the addition of 4.3 new positions to provide needed support for our students. Employee Benefits are increasing 7.11 percent primarily to ensure proper funding for our medical benefit plans which have relied on the use of healthy reserve balances since the 2017-18 fiscal year.” He also noted that the budget includes “limited requests for additional staffing and programs.”

The additional staffing requests include 2 (.5) teacher positions or one full-time equivalent and a (.5) board certified behavioral analyst needed to provide services for special education students. Solan also requested two hall monitors to address security upgrades in the district’s elementary schools and a math interventionist at Dodd Middle School.

“Another significant factor in this budget is the inclusion of 6.7 Instructional Assistant positions, which were not budgeted for in the 2019/20 school year, but had to be added to fulfill special education plans during the current year,” Solan wrote. “These positions must be carried into the 2020/21 school year.”

Solan is also requesting an increase of nearly $300,000 in building maintenance and operations over last year’s budget to “help address the needs of our aging facilities.”

“I understand that my recommended budget will be reviewed and discussed at great length over the next several months, as it should,” Solan wrote to the board. “However, I believe that this budget responds to the realistic needs of a school system that wishes to maintain a competitive edge for its students and community. I ask that you take time to consider the value and importance of our public schools in preparing our children to be successful, contributing members of our global society.”

The next budget review presentation will take place at 7 p.m. on Jan. 21 at Dodd Middle School.

Read Solan’s full budget presentation to the school board here. The full recommended budget can be found here.