Marcia Chambers Photo
Schools Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez (pictured) has proposed a $55.3 million school budget for FY2018, a 1.96 percent increase over last year’s budget, even though enrollment across the school district is declining. Funding the town’s schools is the largest portion of the overall town budget.
“This is the tightest budget I have ever submitted in my seven years here,” Hernandez told the board when he ended his 30-minute presentation Wednesday night.. He spoke before educators, elected officials and parents, about 30 in all at Branford High School. Jim Finch, the town’s finance director, attended the meeting along with Don Neel, the Chief Operating Officer for the Branford public schools. BCTV, Branford’s public television station, filmed it.
“We may have to let one or two teachers go,” Hernandez said, observing, “Our enrollment is down.” He pointed to continuing contractual obligations. “Our budget does not reduce or cut any program or team” And, he observed, “It responds to the community’s fiscal posture.”
Changing Needs
Hernandez also pointed to changing needs, including helping students with disabilities or other problems and working with kids across the grades who need to learn English. He said a few years ago the Branford school system had no English language teachers. Now it has three.
He said there are four groups of students who require extra attention: a substantial influx of ELL (English language learning) students; those with special education needs (Hernandez said special needs students are being educated within the school system and that is saving money); the number of students who require free or reduced lunches (an under-represented number, he said); and student mobility (students who cycle in and out of the school system).
Hernandez said the Branford school system has ongoing student mobility, students and families moving in and out of the district frequently. “Last year 400 students either left the district or came into the district. That’s a daunting number. How do we help kids transition in? It’s not easy.”
Enrollment Down
For the first time in its history enrollment at the Walsh Intermediate School will fall below 900 to 862 as of the graduating class of June 2017.
A renovated Walsh school, whose cost is now estimated to be $86 million, is configured in terms of square feet based on an enrollment of 960, not the reality of life right now. The town is hoping to get a state grant of about $30 million to offset the cost, but that decision is yet to be made. Hernandez was optimistic that someday enrollments will go up, at least that is the aim. However, overall enrollment has been declining for years, with the overall district figures falling below 3,000 to 2,959 by June. Declining school enrollment is a fact of life for many schools throughout Connecticut.
As is typically the case, the driving force in school expenses centers on increases for teacher salaries and benefits, all set by union contracts. This year was no different. Increases for the 2018 budget include a 5.4 percent increase or $554,236 in benefits and a 2.1 percent increase or $668,472 increase in salaries for teachers and administrators.
“Sustainability”
Hernandez likes to have a theme each year to attach to his budget, a one-word overview. The 2018 theme is “sustainability.” Last year’s theme was “synergy.” In 2015 it was “coherence.”
The school budget is the largest portion of the overall town budget, which last year came in at $105.8 million after cuts were made by the Board of Finance (BOF) and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM). Town department heads are now working on their budgets. By spring, the RTM, the town’s legislative body, will vote. Click here to read last year’s story. Then the BOF will set the mill rate upon which property taxes are determined.
The Board of Education is expected to hold a workshop Wednesday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. and Thursday Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. at Branford High School’s lower media center, 185 East Main St., parking lot “C.”
Hernandez took the board and the audience through his major objectives, including “maintaining reasonable class size, addressing emerging needs and sustaining technology integration.” He said he believes strongly in providing support for professional growth for the staff.
As for state funding, specifically the Education Cost Sharing formula, he said the town is grateful for whatever it gets, but does “not overly rely on state budget.” What the town depends upon to fund the schools is the property tax.
What was unveiled Wednesday night was the operating budget only. The capital budget, which deals with Board of Education projects, including sports projects, was not unveiled or discussed at the meeting.
Marcia Chambers Photo
Board of Education Chair Michael Krause (center) praised Hernandez for his presentation. The BOE listened last night, but took no vote. That comes later in the process. “We will look at all the drivers,” Krause said, adding that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will present his state budget to residents prior to the board’s Feb. 13 workshop.
“We have our work cut out for us,” Krause said, anticipating a serious fiscal crisis on the state level.
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It's ironic that Superintendent Hernandez has chosen "sustainability" as his theme for this annual budget. At the Public Building Committee's meeting in late January to discuss the "value engineering" items that could be revised or eliminated to reduce the cost of the renovation, it was decided to eliminate the photovoltaic (solar electricity-generating) panels from the project. I was told in response to my question about incorporation of energy efficiency and renewable energy features (i.e., solar panels) that the building would be sufficiently energy efficient to earn LEED Silver certification BECAUSE THIS IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR STATE FUNDING(!) but that renewable energy systems would not be included unless grants were made available to cover the costs. It's well known that energy efficiency and solar electricity generation more than pay for themselves in terms of reduced need to purchase power and heating fuel, thereby lowering operating costs over the life of the building and saving Branford taxpayers money well into the future. The money saved could be available for funding important elements of the education program. Also, generating at least some of the electricity needs of the school on site reduces the vulnerability to power outages from storm damage or other types of electric grid disruption for the life of the building.
Incorporating solar panels into the Walsh renovation is an investment that will pay a handsome return over the years. It's a shame that Superintendent Hernandez and the people planning and overseeing the proposed renovation of the Walsh School don't seem to care about this kind of longterm sustainability.