By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — The Board of Education heard the first details about Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice’s proposed $130,341,610 budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year — a $4,747,728, or 3.78-percent, increase over the current $125.6-million budget.

“In the midst of more than two years of disruption and challenge, the annual work of the Westport Public Schools and the Board of Education must persist,” he said in a presentation Monday night.

Scarice said the plan includes all funding needed to operate a school district of nearly 1,000 employees and 5,280 students projected for the next school year — an estimated decrease of 65 students from the current 5,345 enrolled.

The proposed budget also includes the addition of the equivalent of almost 6.5 certified teachers added during this year.

Increase Exceeds Board of Finance Request

In December, the school board was told by members of the Board of Finance that they hoped school officials would forward a budget proposal no more than 2.5 percent higher than this year’s $126.5 million.

Scarice called the 2022-23 budget proposal the first to reflect the “pandemic effect,” while at the same time moving forward with other parts of the district’s agenda.

“We will maintain the academic excellence of the school district,” he said.

The superintendent said 3.48 percent of the proposed increase is needed to maintain services. The plan takes into account contractual staff raises and the need to add staff to handle an influx of new students, according to the budget’s executive summary.

Various Increases

More than 80 percent of the board’s annual budget is tied to salaries and benefits, totaling $104,654,966 — representing a combined increase of $2,805,651.

The area of “Total Equipment” shows the largest increase, at 210.9 percent, from $249,628 in the current budget up to $776,017.

“Purchased Services” increased by 4.2 percent, from $2,218,029 to $2,310,905.

Total “Property Services” went up 6.3 percent, from $6,470,479 to $6,879,068.

The area of “Other Purchased Services” rose 7.3 percent, from $11,373,229 to $12,203,505.

Key factors driving up spending include:

• Maintaining existing programs.
• 6.42 more teaching positions.
• Five additional special education paraprofessionals.
• Assuming costs of a technology replacement cycle that had been offset by federal COVID-relief funds.
• Other special education increases.

Scarice said enrollment in special education has increased from 13.4 percent of the student population to 14.6 percent — a trend that mirrors state and national experience.

According to John Bayers, assistant superintendent for human resources and general administration, additional staffers were hired after the education budget was adopted last year to address higher enrollment and special education needs.

Principals Wanted More

Spending requests for the new fiscal year from district administrators initially totaled a 5.71 percent increase, Scarice reported. A $2.4 million cut in those requests was made before the proposal reached the school board.

Unlike last year, when Scarice said all administrative requests were forwarded to the board, the approach this time is to “not just throw everything on the table,” but present a spending package considered reasonable for the community.

“We took a much more deliberate approach,” Scarice said. “There were trade-offs.”

Worked into the budget total is a recommendation to withdraw $675,716 from the carry-over account for “one-time” facilities and special education transportation expenditures.

The school board will get a deeper look at the budget during a day-long public workshop scheduled for Friday.

Board Chairwoman Lee Goldstein said there is a lot to think about in the pending review of the budget proposal.