Wilton Public Schools superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith presented his proposed education budget for next year to Wilton residents last night (Thursday, Jan. 22). The crowd was small–about 30-40 residents and perhaps 20 school administrators listened as Smith detailed the schools’ past achievements and next year’s needs as he stood next to the Board of Education a and running through the proposed for 2015-16.

The big picture:  Smith proposed a total budget for the schools of $79,956,024, an increase of $1.55 million, or 1.98 percent above the 2014-15 budget.

Smith thanked community members, including the BoE and Bd. of Finance as well as residents who participated in roundtable conversations Smith organized earlier in the year, saying, “That feedback has had a direct impact on this spending proposal.”

He reiterated his goal of “balancing the need to appropriately manage costs while insuring that our schools receive adequate financing so that we maintain our exemplary programs and that we fund the initiatives necessary for continuous improvement.”

Smith also mentioned early on how the budget process began soon after he joined the district in July 2014 with a review of all staffing, and said that structural changes–including a staff reduction of 4.3 full time teaching positions–resulted from that review process.

Interestingly, Smith referred to a quote that referenced “conscious choice and discipline” when he said that he hoped those elements would be evident in his proposed budget. He later added that the spending plan is meant to “strengthen the district’s capacity to improve teaching and learning while reflecting a desire to be fiscally responsible.”

“Program Priorities”

Smith said some of the curriculum elements reflected in the budget include:

  • four new courses at Wilton High School, including AP Spanish literature, Multi-variable Calculus, STEM-Coding/Game Development, and Farm to Table Culinary
  • Reintroduction of World Language to 3rd grade
  • Expanded enrichment in grades 3-8

Teacher Staffing, Compensation and Elements

Smith said, “The majority of the funding request is tied directly to the compensation of our professional staff.”

He emphasized how this is directly tied to performance and achievement of Wilton students, calling this an investment, and a need to “build the capacity of our teachers.”

The budget reflects this in:

  • increasing time for staff collaboration and professional learning
  • laptop computers for all classroom teachers
  • restructuring curricular and instructional support, by creating:
    • 2 K-8 Curriculum Coordinators
    • 6.4 Instructional Coaches

Smith attributed the cuts in 4.3 teaching positions mostly to “reductions in student population of a school or reallocation of staff.” Projected enrollment for next year across the district is 4,219 students, a net loss of 61 students.

He explained the structure changes as “restructuring how we do business.”

“Currently we support our staff and curriculum through an instructional leader model; the benefit is those are teachers working in the classroom every day and they know the curriculum inside and out. The drawback is they are full-time teachers in classrooms all day long, and in order to do the [instructional leader] work they need to do it before the school day and after the school day and in the summer.”

Smith said the plan would eliminate the instructional leaders and move to a system with curriculum coordinators and instructional coaches.

The coordinators would make sure curriculum was “coordinated and seamless across the buildings.”

Instructional coaches in each of the schools, he said, would help meet the demands of new requirements as a result of Common Core implementation, which has introduced new concepts and strategies that teachers must learn.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that they need more support–the best way to do that is side-by-side coaching while teachers are actually teaching in classrooms,” Smith said.

Smith also mentioned that the budget includes adding in .5 Library and Media Specialist at Miller-Driscoll School.

Smith said that 591 students receive special education services–that’s 13.8 percent of the student population.

The Budget Numbers

Smith said the primary budget drivers are the contracted salary increases, and increases in purchased services (including special education, legal services and transportation), but those have been offset by significant reductions in employee benefits spending. Here’s a breakdown of the proposed budget figures:

  • “The majority of our spending is consumed by our staff–salaries and employee benefits consume 77.8-percent of the overall budget,” Smith said.
  • Salaries have been increased by $1.1 million, or 2.38 percent, which Smith said is “mainly contractual.” It also includes the 4.3 FTE decreases.
  • “We did very, very well,” Smith said. The benefits line decreased by $1.08 million, or 7.28 percent from last year.
  • Purchased professional services saw a “dramatic increase,” of 19.94 percent, or $610,692. Smith said of this category, which includes special education legal, independent evaluations and services as well as professional development. “We are struggling with the cost, just like every town around us.” The district will be undertaking a review of how it provides special education in the coming year. He also reminded the audience that the state reimburses 70-75 percent of excess cost, and he anticipates a reimbursement of approximately $1 million.
  • Property costs:  remodeling and repairs account for 1.18 percent increase. This includes the Learning Commons initiative and security changes.
  • Other purchased services increased 9.67 percent, or $831,445. Smith attributed that to special education outplacement increases, and mediated legal settlements. It also includes a contractual increase in the transportation contract.
  • Supplies:  The district will increase spending on textbooks by 9.29 percent, but there’s actually an overall .67 percent ($9,969) decrease in this category because cuts in other supplies will offset those textbook dollars.
  • Furniture:  The district has deferred replacing classroom furniture for several years, so this year’s budget reflects a $48,373 increase, or 4.49 percent.

How Does Wilton Compare?

Smith ended his formal presentation with a slide showing how Wilton’s proposed budget compared with the school districts in towns surrounding us. Wilton’s 1.98 percent proposed increase was the lowest. Darien (3.65%); Easton (2.49%); Fairfield (3.29%); New Canaan (5.0%); Westport (3.75%); Weston (3.17%); Ridgefield (3.19%); Greenwich (2.0%): and Monroe (2.34%).

Reaction

There was only one question from the audience:  David Clune asked for clarification on the staff positions being eliminated–specifically, whether the science teacher would be eliminated at Cider Mill. Assistant Superintendent Chuck Smith said that that position would not be eliminated; however, the half-time position at Miller Driscoll would be eliminated.

Warren Serenbetz stood at the microphone and applauded loudly. While Serenbetz is chair of the Board of Finance, he said his reaction reflected his personal views as a citizen.

“As a citizen I’m thrilled we have somebody coming in and looking at it from the ground up to see how we need and can run these schools cost-effectively and still deliver the services that our kids need to be successful. With Kevin Smith, we’ve got that and I didn’t want to let that go unrecognized,” said Serenbetz, who has been finance chair since 2007.

In his opening remarks to the public, Board of Education chair Bruce Likly called the budget “financially thoughtful,” and said, “It does a wonderful job of trying to build back in some very exciting educational components we’ve had to forego in previous years.”

After the presentation he added, “I think what you saw tonight was a manifestation of the community roundtables we had before we even started building the budget, and the work that the Board of Education business operations committee did with the administration ahead of time. You’re seeing a very thoughtful budget developed with a lot of input from the community,” adding, “I’m thrilled.”

He called Smith’s first take on the budget “a new approach,” saying, “It’s exciting to look at things from a new perspective, and Wilton is building on a rich history and incredibly strong foundation built by Dr. Clune and Dr. Richards. It’s a nice opportunity for Dr. Smith to take it forward.”

Smith and other administrators will be holding another community roundtable on Monday evening, Jan. 26 at 7-8:30 p.m. in the Middlebrook School Media Center, for additional feedback.