Suffield Ed. Board Pass $31.26 Million Budget

The Suffield Board of Education took the first steps towards funding the 2012-2013 fiscal year Tuesday night when it unanimously passed its $31.26 million budget proposal. The figure represents an increase of only 1.63 percent over last year’s funding package.

“I think this is a very responsible budget,” said Chairwoman Sue Porcello. “I think [Superintendent of Schools] Karen [Baldwin] has done a remarkable job considering the changes with the common core standards and the additional 25 credits for graduation. She pared it down and found some redundancies and was able to accomplish a lot with very little.”

Porcello added that the Suffield budget growth is very small compared to those of surrounding towns who are also faced with meeting the state’s new education requirements.

Education financing is the largest portion of the town budget, traditionally close to 60 percent of the total budget. The proposal now heads to the Suffield Board of Finance for inclusion in the overall town budget. Porcello also noted that the schools might be able to save nearly $120,000 next year from an energy savings program through Connecticut Light and Power. This could reduce the increase to about 1.2 percent.

The $31,263,943 financing proposal is an increase of $502,392 over the current figure. Some of the increase is comprised of contract obligations to teachers, including employee benefits. Those benefits jumped a significant 10.17 percent since last year. Baldwin was able to virtually negate that increase with savings found by staff reduction in the central office and a streamlined purchasing system that netted reductions of 13.43 percent and 11.38 percent, respectively, on those line items.

Teacher salaries account for the largest portion of the education budget at $16,684,847, about 50 percent of the $31 million figure. Non-certified personnel salaries actually decreased by nearly 1 percent for 2012-2013 budget year. A notably large increase was in the area of new equipment, which was raised by about $225,000 over last year.

Last year’s education budget met with little opposition as the Suffield Board of Finance made few cuts to the spending proposal. This year, however, with emphasis placed by First Selectman Ed McAnaney on a zero growth budget, education may face some cuts in an effort to meet these goals. If the education budget faces significant reductions, Superintendent Baldwin’s fiscal magic will be called upon again to meet the state standards and provide services for Suffield students at a reduced rate.

Over the next few months, the Suffield Boards of Finance and Selectmen will finalize the entire fiscal package and put it to an open vote at a town meeting. The 2012-2013 fiscal year begins July 1.