Ridgefield Interim Superintendent Proposes Budget Hike

RIDGEFIELD, CT — The interim schools superintendent JeanAnn Paddyfote has presented a $98.3 million budget for the 2019-20 school year to the Board of Education, the News Times is reporting.

The budget proposal represents a nearly 3.43 percent increase over the current plan, but that's less than the 5.2 percent hike Superintendent Paddyfote suggested earlier.

The savings stem from the reduction of staff at East Ridge Middle School, which has been facing declining enrollment, as well as proposed staffing reductions at the elementary level and one at the district level. The total staffing salary cuts in the new proposal, not including benefits, amount to $672,608.

Scheduled to be hired in the new budget are three new school psychologists for the elementary schools, a STEM supervisor and two board-certified behavioral analysts for the central office, and part-time positions to be hired at Farmingville Elementary School, Ridgefield High School, and Scotts Ridge Middle School.

Salaries ($59.1 million) and benefits ($19.6 million) make up 80 percent of the new proposed budget.

For more, see the News Times.