By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) unanimously approved $168,818,947 to fund the Westport School District in 2026-2027 last night. 

The total, approved in a Town Hall meeting, includes the $157,863,623 that the district requested to cover school operations, plus several other costs, including $10.1 million in debt service and $576,577 in aid to private and parochial schools.

The district’s request represented a 4.98% spending increase over the current $150,371,920 budget. Members of the Board of Finance and RTM Finance Committee had asked questions and even shown apprehension about the increase in previous meetings. Last night in Town Hall, Board of Education Chair Lee Goldstein told the RTM that the higher sum was “essentially the cost of holding steady.”

The school district is by far the largest portion of the $266,062,614 approved for all funds.

The vote came a night after the RTM approved – also unanimously – the $89,539,349 budget for town operations plus $7,704,318 for the Westport Library, the Westport Transit District, health services and the Earthplace wildlife sanctuary and educational center.

RTM Moderator Jeff Wieser said last night that the town portions passed easily on Monday because the members had taken the time to hash out the spending plans over recent months.

“We met so many times in committee meetings, it went quickly and easily,” he said.

For the schools, increasing healthcare costs helped drive the increase, district leaders said. Elio Longo, the district’s chief financial officer, said a $2.6 million increase in healthcare costs accounted for 1.74 percentage points of the increase. Without that, the increase would have been 3.24%, he said.

District leaders discussed several ways they gained efficiencies or saved money, including by meeting requirements inhouse – for analysts to support special needs teachers and providing mandated transportation for post-high school special needs students to college courses and sites until they reach 22. 

They also presented ideas the district rejected, including an early retirement incentive for staff, a “pay-to-play” system for sports and seeking sponsors willing to pay to name school sports fields.

Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice said after the meeting that he appreciated the generosity of a community “that makes sure that our schools are well funded.” He added, “The expectations are high and they make sure we have the resources to meet them.”

The town budget meeting on Monday included discussion of the fire department’s request for $495,615 to replace five firefighters who left unexpectedly with less than a year on the job. The vacancies drain funds from the department, which recruits, vets and trains firefighters only to see them leave – incurring overtime costs to cover the shifts while the department repeats the process. 

Fire Chief Nicholas Marsan said the department has begun to spend the money to fill the posts. The funds, he said, were meant to “make us as close to whole as possible and keep the department ready for the next call.”

RTM members Seth Braunstein and Andrew Colabella advocated approval of the spending. While discussion of the issue centers on the attractiveness of pension benefits other departments provide, Braunstein also said the department mints firefighters who are desirable to other forces.

“The department (does) an excellent job training and preparing the people that tsaff the department,” he said. “Once the town has invested in that training for these individuals, they actually become far more attractive and marketable to neighboring communities.”

Colabella said a pension is not only for the firefighters themselves.

“Is not just about the employee, it’s about protection for their families if the worst were to happen,” he said. “If we’re not competitive, we become a steppingstone. We already have.”

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}