By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT–By most accounts it’s been a good start to the 2025-26 school year.

There were reportedly zero kindergarten criers on the first day of school, according to Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice. There is a teacher for every classroom. And state test scores-to be discussed with the board later this month-promise to show Westport students not only have returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels, they have surpassed them.

“That is remarkable given the challenges we have had to deal with since the pandemic,” Scarice told the board when it met last week at Staples High School. “Across the board, 80 percent or higher on every subtest.”

Storm clouds on the horizon

Enhanced file photo

Even so, Scarice warned the board there are storm clouds on the horizon.

In a memo the superintendent issued to the board this summer he listed 10 areas of concern. The board and district will have to contend with the following this school year:

Operating budget increases

The district enjoys a good relationship with town funding bodies. Over the past few years, budget increases were in the four to five percent range. Scarice said he is concerned with the sustainability of such increases going forward.

“We need to look into ways to maintain and improve but (also) find a way to bend cost increases,” Scarice said.

Harnessing Artificial Intelligence

The district has vowed to develop a strategic vision to guide purposeful integration of AI. Students and educators are already using AI on a regular basis.

“Without deliberate action, Westport risks falling behind,” Scarice said.

Special education transportation costs

The cost of sending special needs students out of district is escalating to price-gouging levels, according to Scarice. Assistant Superintendent Michael Rizzo is researching how other districts pay for out of district transportation and is to report back before budget season begins in November.

Emotional dysregulation among younger students

Westport uses a program called Effective School Solutions, to assist middle and high school students who have intensive emotional and behavioral challenges. The district is looking to expand training among faculty and support staff and perhaps extend the program into the elementary schools, where the level of disruptive behavior in some students is higher than Scarice said he has ever seen.

Toxic social media

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice – Photo Linda Connor Lambeck

Scarice said misinformation on social media is becoming harder to ignore, pressuring school leaders to respond instantaneously to complex issues.

“Community members may form strong opinions based on incomplete or inaccurate information,” Scarice said. 

To combat it, Scarice suggests expanding pro-active district communications and modeling the communication culture it wants to see.

Hiring and retention

“Who wouldn’t want to work for Westport,” Scarice said.

Still, the pool of candidates the district would like to see work in Westport is growing thinner. Fewer individuals are going into education. Commutes, for some, have become too long. The pressure to keep existing staff has district officials looking to keep compensation competitive and the professional culture strong, Scarice told the board.

Traditionally, the district’s operating budget assumes about $550,000 will be saved each year by replacing retiring teachers with new ones earning less. That is becoming a hard goal to achieve.

Enrollment at Kings Highway/Redistricting

The Kings Highway neighborhood is growing and may necessitate redistricting once a new Long Lots is built. Scarice said the district developed a good playbook to use when it shifted some of the Long Lots neighborhood to Saugatuck, but that there were also lessons learned from that experience.

Phase II of the district’s promised redistricting plan could eventually send some Kings Highway students to Coleytown once Stepping Stones Preschool moves to the new Long Lots campus.

Scarice said the district will continue to monitor enrollment projections, housing trends and facility readiness in the meantime.

Capital demands

The building of a new Long Lots won’t solve all the district’s building needs. A new Coleytown Elementary will be needed within the next five years, district officials said. The district is refreshing its 5 Year Capital Improvement Plan and will push the new First Selectman to establish a CES building committee pronto.

Facilities Staffing

The district has failed more than once to get a second-in-command in its facilities department. As the district’s facility project list grows, so too does the need for additional staff. Scarice said this time around the title may be changed from coordinator to assistant director. Current administrative staffing is also being reviewed to mitigate the cost.

Board support and budget talk

Whatever the facilities position is called, Board Member Robert Harrington said he supports the position. He was on the losing side of a vote to add the position to the 2025-26 operating budget.

He and other board members also support an effort by Scarice to start funding sports uniforms for the 40 athletic teams run by the district. Currently booster clubs foot the bill.

Scarice called it a district responsibility, and suggested a uniform replacement cycle be established based on need, with the first round being funded in the 2026-27 operating budget. The plan is not to turn away booster club gifts but create uniform giving practices and protocols that level the playing field. 

Board Chair Lee Goldstein said it would be helpful if the board could build consensus on budget priorities sooner rather than later this year.

Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon said it is also important to make the public aware of all the “storm clouds” before it holds its first Community Conversations of the school year. 

The first is scheduled for noon on November 12. The second is not scheduled until April 29, at 7 p.m. Locations have not yet been announced.

Recent Westport Journal coverage of Westport schools

Linda Conner Lambeck

Linda Conner Lambeck covers education for Westport Journal. She was a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications. She has covered education throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. She is a proud member of the Education Writers Association.

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