The following is the fifth in a series of articles about the Town of Westport’s finances. Written by ex-Board of Finance Chairman Brian Stern, this piece looks at the finances behind the Westport Public Schools.

Westport Journal presents these pieces of news and analysis to help readers better understand town finance: the dynamics that create the town’s revenue, how that revenue is spent, the major drivers of town budget increases and how the town manages capital and infrastructure expenses. We plan to also put the decisions made by the Board of Finance and the Finance Department into the larger context of continuing to secure a safe and predictable long-term future for the town.

WESTPORT–Recently, Westport Journal met with the Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice and the Chief Financial Officer Elio Longo to discuss town’s public education system and its finances. We thank them for their time and insight.

We enjoy an outstanding school system

By any measure, Westporters should be proud of the education offered to our students. Accolade after accolade and survey after survey show that our system is a benchmark for excellence. In a recent Niche study, Westport was ranked first out of 120 school districts in Connecticut and 19^th out of 10,000 nationally. 

Westport schools produce stellar college admissions results, high proficiency scores, excellent SAT/ACT results, a student to teacher ratio of 13:1 and, with a few exceptions, an admired special education program.

Speaking from a parent’s perspective, survey averages and accolades are not as meaningful as the educational and developmental experiences their child receives, and by most anecdotal observations and feedback, the results are outstanding. We are a learning-friendly town as demonstrated by the intense involvement of parents in the schools, partner institutions such as The Westport Library, Earthplace and Wakeman Town Farm, sports participation and more.  

Folks spend lavishly to move here and raise their families. They have many reasons to make Westport their home; the Town’s reputation for preeminence in education is at or near the top of that list.

Enormous undertaking

Running the school system and maintaining its excellence is an enormous undertaking. Consider the challenges. Westport parents, and the town as a whole, set high expectations. Our educators must adhere to state and federal regulations. Our schools are not immune to  the occasional national crisis (such as Covid). Pressures on students are intensified by ubiquitous cell phones and social media. Aging buildings must be maintained. Curricula need constant modification, even more so with the advent of artificial intelligence. And educators must keep their skills current with staff development and training.

Fortunately, over the past two decades, Westport has been blessed with a dedicated administration that has succeeded under intense public debate and surveillance. 

Substantial expense

The Westport Public School system is a substantial expense for the taxpayer, and the taxpayer has been generous. For the fiscal year ending 2025, the town spent $143 million on education. That was about 60% of the town’s total spending of $241 million.

The school system costs approximately $12,000 per household. The per-pupil cost was $27,089 in 2025. By the end of this fiscal year, that cost is expected to rise to $28,528.

As illustrated in the chart below, over 10 years, education spending increased 36%, lower than inflation in Connecticut, which was 39%. Interestingly, the higher cost-per-pupil growth – 48% over the same time – was driven by an increase in absolute spending that coincided with an 8% decline in student enrollment (even with the influx of New Yorkers since the beginning of Covid).

As is suggested in the graph below, the increase in spending appears to be more a function of inflation than the change in population.

Budget breakdown

Salaries constitute 62% of the budget. The vast majority of education spending goes to teacher pay. This year, our schools employ 391 regular and 62 special education teachers who are working with a contract that specifies general raises plus increases based on longevity of service and qualifications.

For the recent three-year contract negotiation, the pay increase was 4.6%. The starting salaries for a teacher range from $56,000 to $70,000, depending on subject and qualification; after 20 years of service, annual pay can surpass $120,000. Most of our teachers are long-tenured. Over the past 10 years contracted salaries have increased 40% compared to 39% inflation. This inflation includes the post COVID spike of 11% in 2021-2022.  

The 10-year spending graphed above shows a challenge in managing health benefits, the second-highest expense at 19% of total costs. It is well known that the rising cost of Connecticut health services, combined with more expensive, sophisticated treatments and medications, accelerates expenses well beyond general inflation. 

The Town has deftly managed this upward healthcare cost spiral, largely by changing providers twice in the past 10 years, now relying on the state’s health plan. But the district can’t continue to contain the expenses forever. Over the past four years alone, Westport schools’ healthcare costs have risen by $6.2 million to $22.6 million. That’s a 27% increase over a short period.

The third highest spending item in the system is transportation, which comprises about 5% of the budget. 

These top three essential items – salaries, benefits and transportation – account for 86% of all spending.

Where to focus budget discussions?

This does not mean that nothing can be done to control costs. Rather, it points out where the budgetary discussions might be most effective. For example, we can change the mix and numbers of our teachers, and likewise we can aggressively manage health benefits and transportation costs. (This will be a subject of an opinion to be published shortly).

Other significant trends in education create even more challenges. For example, the changes to and burdens of state and federal regulation, the movement of state educational subsidies, the growing numbers of students with individualized education programs (special education) and increased legal liability issues.

These variables inevitably bear negative cost consequences. 

We have not addressed the huge issues of capital for school buildings or the associated interest costs in this article but will address this subject later in the fall. 

We thank Tom Scarice, Elio Longo and their staff for providing the quantitative basis for the cost descriptions above and hope that a little light shed on the expense fundamentals is useful to our taxpayers. 

The bottom line is that we enjoy an exceptional educational system in Westport. We have a Town that invests in our kids at a generous pace. Their success is the best chance we have for an optimistic future. 

As they say in Latin “semper sursum,” loosely translated as “ever upward.”

Brian Stern

^{_{Brian Stern spent 40 years at the Xerox Corporation in a variety of executive capacities. He earned an MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He spent 14 years on Westport’s Board of Finance, eight of them as Chairman.}}