Greenwich Board Of Education Approves $182M Budget For 2023-2024

GREENWICH, CT — The Greenwich Board of Education last week unanimously voted to approve the school district's fiscal year 2023-2024 operating budget.

The proposed spending plan weighs in at $182,165,266, a 2.9 percent, or $5.2 million increase over this year's budget.

And while it meets non-binding budget guidelines set by the Board of Estimate and Taxation, board of education members expressed concerns about how guidelines were met.

"I think everyone needs to be reminded that this was not an easy task," said board member Kathleen Stowe on adhering to budget guidelines. "But it would also be impossible had we not had sort of a windfall funding from the federal government. Greenwich did incredibly well in terms of our federal funding."

Blaize Levitan, chief operating officer for the school district, reiterated that the administration wouldn't bring forward a reckless budget or one that would put any of the district's programming at risk. He said the budget is "reasonable and responsible."

However, he acknowledged that ARPA funds played a significant role.

Board Vice Chair Christina Downey said Greenwich has been "extremely fortunate" the last couple of years to have such federal funding.

"This is not a sustainable long-term practice, particularly if we want to keep working on curriculum and working on our special education," she said. "While I understand we were able to pull it off this year, I'm deeply concerned for future years. We'll worry about those when the time comes."

Board Chair Joe Kelly said the BET is "fully aware" of the federal funding the school district received.

"They're fully aware of all the issues that made this a unique budget. We made them aware that we will not have the same funding the next time around. There's no mystery here. There's no secret," Kelly said.
"I'm optimistic going forward we'll be able to work with the BET."

In a cover letter on the proposed budget, Superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools Dr. Toni Jones said the budget was "incredibly difficult to construct."

The two primary increases to the proposed budget are contractual salaries and utilities, most notably electric service, which is projected to increase by more than $1 million.

She added: "However, this budget stays focused on our GPS mission of excellence and implements mandated services while supporting our staff, students, and families who hold Greenwich Public Schools in the highest regard. In closing, there is a chance that an interim appropriation could be needed if utilities and other fixed costs continue to rise through June of 2024."

Special education out of of district tuition has increased by a net of $1.1 million, the district said. The increase is driven primarily by increases to contractual tuition rates and new students.

The proposed budget calls for the reduction of eight full-time equivalent positions and 5.1 non-certified positions. As part of its guidelines, the BET asked for a reduction in head count.

The district's capital budget of $121,714,311 was approved in October.

Up next in the budget process, First Selectman Fred Camillo is expected to present his budget next month.

The BET will then hold hearings in February and March to craft final spending plans which the Representative Town Meeting will consider in May.

View the proposed BOE operating budget here.