RSD17 BOE Passes Budget with a 0% Increase, Reducing Superintendent's Proposed Budget by $1.1M

The Regional School District 17 Board of Education budget for the 2013-2014 school year passed at the Board of Education meeting last week. The total proposed budget of $37,886,401.58 was approved and reflected a 0% increase over the 2012-2013 school year budget.

The Administration and Board worked together over the weeks preceding this meeting to reduce the Superintendent’s proposed budget, formerly at 2.9%, by 1.1 million dollars.  

"The Board was able to work well as a team, along with the Superintendent, to come up with some measures that tighten the Superintendent's budget, without affecting any programming or the students," said Board Chair Karen Perry.   

These reductions, according to Superintendent Howard Thiery, "worked to take every efficiency possible in areas outside the classroom so that the District can have a budget that supports instructional programming that continues to improve and innovate by utilizing existing resources."  

This budget, Thiery says, includes "many exciting and innovative initiatives including the expansion of the very successful Readers Workshop program up through grade 8, increasing the number of Advanced Placement and college level courses at the High School and outfitting science and industrial arts laboratories at the High School and Middle School with technology."

Other improvements will be in the school libraries and media centers. For example, at the Elementary Level, through restructuring, Certified Library Media Specialists will be added "to support the direct instruction of students in the areas of information literacy, research skills and technology. This initiative had no cost to the budget through restructuring existing staff," said Thiery.

Additionally, the High School Library will now be able to stay open after school four days per week so that students can have a place at the high school to work and do research after school. 

"As Superintendent, I am grateful to our community leaders for the constructive dialog and feedback and to the Board of Education and administrative team for their hard work in developing a budget that is respectful and responsive to the community’s economic needs as well as providing support for our schools to continue to develop excellent programming for our students," said Thiery.

The Board, according to Perry, is "hopeful that the taxpayers will support our proposed 0 % increase."

The budget will go to referendum in Haddam and Killingworth on May 7, 2013.