Darien School Board Approves $121.8M Budget: Report

DARIEN, CT — The Darien Board of Education last Thursday aproved a $121.5 million budget, but an error in the numbers which was discovered Friday bumped the spending plan up to $121.8 million, according to the Darien Times.

Notably, the art coortdinator and world languages department chair were cut, but several middle and elementary school teaching positions were added back in, Darien Times said.

The budget represents a 6.48 percent increase over the current spending plan.

Last month during a public hearing on the budget, Board of Finance Chair Jim Palen explained that the town gave guidance on a 3-4 percent budget increase, which accounted for inflation.

He said a 6.2 percent increase would be the highest increase in the past 10 years, and "would likely generate the largest ever tax increase that Darien has seen in my 16 years of being involved here."

The Board of Finance will review the proposal on March 5, with a public hearing scheduled for March 12, and a vote on April 9.

The RTM will take up the entire town budget on May 13.

"The RTM will vote on it. If the RTM votes it down, the result will be painful for everyone, but especially for our students," said Ed Washecka, chair of the Representative Town Meeting Education Committee, in last month's public hearing.

Read more from Darien Times on the school board's approved budget.