BOE Digs into FY’25 Budget Proposal, with Q’s on Staffing, Supplies and Reduction Impacts (Freshmen Sports? Admins?) to Prep for Tonight’s Joint BOF Meeting

Board of Education (BOE) members continued to dig into the superintendent’s proposed FY-2025 budget numbers last week (Feb. 1).

Superintendent Kevin Smith’s proposed $94,140,103 school budget for 2024-25 represents a $4,958,411 increase (5.56%) over the $89,081,692 budget approved for the current fiscal year. But at $1.5 million over the guidance provided by the BOF, questions centered around where savings might be found, what impacts possible reductions might have, and what the district prioritizes.

It was the second of two regularly scheduled meetings with the budget on the agenda, following three workshops centered on the topic. Now, Wilton’s annual budget process moves to tonight’s joint meeting with the Board of Finance (BOS).

Last week’s budget conversation covered several key topics, with much of the discussion branching out of questions the members had posed to school administrators in writing before the meeting.

Tradeoffs — Adjustments and Impacts

Smith noted that the district had been able to find places to trim in past years, even when budgets were already lean, and administrators had been able to “blunt the impact” by finding non-labor areas in the budgets to cut.

But, Smith said, those days are likely over, and that no reductions could be made without impacting staffing and programs.

“Should we choose or be required to make substantial reductions to the proposed budget, we do not have non-labor areas to tap into that would yield substantial dollars.”

He devoted a key part of the meeting to reviewing potential reductions that would likely have to be considered if the budget had to be “revised downward,” and the impact such cuts would have on the district.

Before reviewing them, he said he wanted to be “crystal clear” that he did not support any reductions that impacted programming or staff, repeating several times that his list did not reflect any recommendations or plans on his part. But Smith said he knew any such conversation would leave ripples of concern.

“We’re going to have staff that are very nervous, it’s going to have an impact. We need to understand as we put these conversations out and have them in public, the … work we’re trying to do and help people feel safe and comfortable and secure in their work… is going to be challenged, so I’m going to do this as sensitively as possible. Again, if I repeat it 50 times, I’ll repeat it 50 more — I am not targeting any single position,” he said.

Smith continued by singling out one program that annually has drawn attention from critics suggesting it be eliminated: “All of those pieces that are in it, including instructional coaching, are invaluable to the work we do as the Wilton Public Schools. So I am not recommending the elimination of any single one program anywhere across our district.”

Instead, he said his approach would be to “work around the edges” and examine cuts across all departments “without upending the entire operation.”

While he presented a memo in which he had compiled the list of possible reductions, Smith said he categorically opposed making any of them to the budget he’d already proposed.

“The current proposal reflects the dollars needed by the Wilton Public Schools to effectively deliver its programs. I oppose any reductions that would negatively impact programs in the school,” he wrote in his memo.

He added that the outcomes listed in the memo did “not fully describe” how the cuts would impact the district.

His list included:

• Reducing FTEs (classroom teachers) in Miller-Driscoll and Cider Mill Elementary Schools [+/- $110,000 each]: Smith charted how class-size averages would increase based on reducing one teacher per grade.

• Eliminating .6 FTE for Director of Digital Learning position [$110,000]: With current DDL Fran Kompar retiring at the end of the year, this position would be eliminated rather than filled. According to Smith, Kompar leads “all the really important innovative work,” including support of STEM, digital learning, Portrait of a Graduate development, AI and Library Media programs. “If we have to make a reduction that’s a real sacrifice,” Smith said.
• Eliminating 1.0 Administrator [$170,000]: Smith shared his large concern about removing a building administrator. “We don’t have extra administrators around,” he said, noting that Wilton has some of the highest student/administrator ratios in the DRG. He noted in his memo that responsibilities would have to be shifted or eliminated, exposing the district to “potential liability if we are unable to properly administer our schools and programs.”
• Reducing teachers (locations TBD) — for each area, Smith indicated a single staff reduction “wouldn’t upend the entire program, but it is a degradation without question.” And with section reductions come increased class sizes. At Wilton High School, the impact would mean eliminating certain courses and “potentially locking kids out of opportunities.”
  • Physical education [$110,000]: larger classes and fewer sections
  • Music [$110,000]: fewer music offerings, larger class sizes, potential elimination of instruction in early grades
  • Instructional coach [$110,000]: further reduction in professional learning support for staff
  • World language [$110,000]: potential reduction in scope of program, potential increase to class size
• Reducing all stipends by 50%, including clubs and activities [$433,404]: Smith said that stipends serve a wide range of leadership and management support to supervision of student activities. All would be “impacted detrimentally.” “Leadership, management and coordination of teams and departments would be reduced; clubs and activities would operate on a reduced schedule; staff morale would be negatively impacted; overall functioning of our buildings would be severely diminished.”
• Reduction by 25% of ‘additional time’ [$97,453]: Reducing summer curriculum writing, reduction of planning and clerical operations — which means services would be reduced
• Reduction by 20% of overtime [$79,212]: provided primarily to custodians, especially on weekends before each school year begins, to get the buildings ready, or for weather emergencies for snow removal and sidewalk clearing. Also, when building emergencies occur (for example responding to mold concerns at Middlebrook and Cider Mill, which Smith said required “quite a bit of time” this past fall) or opening the buildings for weekend activities.
• Eliminating freshman sports [$70,158]: in 2022-23, more than 200 students participated in freshman sports. “The loss of that would be, from a kid’s perspective, incalculable,” Smith said.
• Eliminating one game for each sub-varsity team [$8,200]: Although not a large sum, Smith said it might be a consideration if the district needed “to get to a certain point.” This move would jeopardize the high school’s eligibility for state tournaments, he noted.

Smith also included items and costs that had not been included in the budget he proposed but that he said he would recommend adding back in if the budget could be increased.

Among those included restoring the Director of Digital Learning position to a full FTE “because of how critical it is to our forward-looking mission” at $72,000. He also noted DBT skills training stipend [$13,855], 2.0 FTEs for a Special Education program at Cider Mill [$220,000]; an additional STEM teacher at Miller-Driscoll [$110,000], and another dean at WHS after the administrators there expressed “challenges in managing student behavior and responding to all of the other concerns and responsibilities they have” at $110,000. He would also add another paraprofessional for reading at Miller-Driscoll to support teachers with the “challenge of managing kindergarteners” [$39,821].

With non-personnel additions, Smith would also address ongoing furniture replacement [$32,500] after the district has “starved the furniture replacement budget for all the years I’ve been here.”; increase the supplies line [by $8,600] as teachers have had to seek alternative sources to get supplies in the past; and address professional learning priorities by restoring $101,115 that had been sacrificed in the past.

Analyzing Everything

Through the number of meetings where budget is the focus, the BOE members have posed questions about specific line items and general areas. Among several points that were made during the Feb. 1 meeting included elements the district is looking into:

• Analyzing all transportation costs for both general and special education services, including consolidating bus routes and reducing costs by possibly bringing special education transportation in-house. However, procuring vans is challenging due to long lead times on vehicle production.
• Evaluating contracts for services like cleaning/janitorial supplies to potentially bundle services and save money.
• Looking into the impact of constraining dollars and staff reductions on staff morale — particularly through exit surveys with staff who are leaving. Smith said HR Director Maria Coleman has shared data that while in the past departing staff generally cited retirement as a reason for leaving, last year departing staff cited “different reasons,” including working conditions, wanting to be close to home, budget cuts, promotion opportunities and layoff concerns.

‘Being Thoughtful, Trying to Do the Right Thing’

Looking ahead to the remaining budget approval process, Board of Education Chair Ruth DeLuca said the discussions the BOE has had to date “circles back” to an idea of supporting a comprehensive education.

“This all circles back to this idea of the comprehensive education that Wilton strives to provide and the opportunities and the achievement of expectations of our students and our families and the community at large. Our schools are a big part of what brings people here and what maintains our property values as well,” she said.

“There’s a lot of moving pieces, particularly this year. But over the years we’ve always talked about running lean budgets and our lower percentages and degradation over time, and it’s always hard to show it because we do have amazing staff and we have an amazing team here. But this year and this list, and the choices are driving that home in a different way,” DeLuca added.

She wanted the community to know the board is “being thoughtful and being diligent and working hard for the schools and our town, to try to do the right thing.”

Board Vice Chair Nicola Davies gave a colorful description to the situation she feels the district is in facing the tough budget choices.

“I remember all of the big changes you’ve made. You’ve reorganized paraprofessionals, the cost-avoidance of Genesis and Community Steps, renegotiating the health insurance plan, and last year’s Middlebrook schedule change, what it allowed us to do. For many years, we’ve managed budget increases by really thinking strategically and making some great savings. It was clear to me that we’re going to run out rabbits or hats at some point — and this is the year there’s no more rabbits in the hat,” Davies said.

The BOE will meet with the Board of Finance tonight (Thursday, Feb. 8) at 7 p.m. in the Zellner Gallery of the Clune Center. The meeting will be open to the public in person as well as on Zoom and YouTube.