School Budget Up to Voters Again

Voters in Durham and Middlefield will go to the polls on Thursday to vote on a $34,786,974 budget proposal from Regional School District 13.

The board's latest budget was reduced by $228,000 (see cuts below) after voters rejected a $35,011,224 budget during a May 3 referendum.

The final tally was 1147 "no" votes and 1067 "yes" votes.

The latest proposal is a 3.45 percent increase over current spending. In total, school officials have reduced the budget by $895,961 since it was first proposed by Superintendent Susan Viccaro on March 3.

A small crowd of about two dozen people attended Wednesday night's District Meeting, where the board provided a brief overview of the budget. 

"I think there should have been an appropriate reduction in staff, probably at the administrative level to reflect the times and decreasing enrollment," Durham resident Rick Parmelee told the board after the meeting was opened to public comment.

"We can't just keep going up, it's not right. At some place it's got to end. I can't support the budget."

Durham resident Michael Doyle clearly supported the budget.

"I just want to thank all the members of the board. I'm sure after the last budget you did everything you could to get the budget to a point that was as frugal as possible," Doyle said.

"If you could have delivered a decrease, I'm sure you would have delivered a decrease."

Doyle later asked administrators whether reducing the salary of the Strong School Principal would "limit [the district's] ability to get the best potential candidate for that position?"

"It's a bit of a risk, but we heard a message that we needed to cut this budget," said board chair Thomas Hennick.

Chris Morganti, a Durham resident, asked the board whether the state's minimum budget requirement had any impact on the budget proposal.

Board member Kerrie Flanagan said the district's educational cost sharing grant for 2011-2012 remained "flat."

"There's no requirement that we increase the budget," she explained.

For the 2011-2012 budget summary, click here.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday at  in Durham and the in Middlefield.

The latest cuts include:

• Administrative Salary (New Strong Principal) - $10,000
• Instruments (no new purchases) - $4,000
• Stipends - (teachers and coaches) $25,000
• Transportation (anticipated) - $40,000
• Electricity (solar power/anticipated) - $15,000
• Art Teacher (CRHS) - $12,500
• Athletic Uniforms (CRHS Volleyball) - $3,000
• Technology Support - $12,000
• Capital Plan (projects unfunded in 2011-2012) - $92,000
• Athletic Supplies (CRHS) - $4,000
• General Supplies (CRHS) - $6,750
• Student Parking Fee will increase from $25 to $50