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NEW MILFORD — The superintendent’s budget includes a 3.58 percent increase over last year, or an additional $2.36 million, bringing the school district’s budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year to 68, $2 million.
Superintendent of Schools Alisha DiCorpo planned to present her budget in a series of budget hearings that began Tuesday and will continue through next week.
The first hearing was to include budgets for K-5 classes. Students in grades 6-12 will be discussed Wednesday at 7 p.m. On January 25, district-wide items will be discussed, also at 7 p.m. Each meeting will be subject to public comment and broadcast via Zoom.
A finalized budget proposal will be adopted by council on January 26 before being presented to city council.
In DiCorpo’s letter to the Board of Education accompanying the budget, she writes that the new requests support “specific needs and cost increases in our special education budget as well as contracted services from the Department of Student Services, staff and support” as well as several other district needs, such as a “Must Copy Agreement” and “Extra Secretarial Hours for Elementary Schools.”
DiCorpo is offering a 6% increase in professional services, which includes legal, technology, program development, medical and surrogate services, and a 6.5% increase in other services, including transportation and communications.
The proposed salary budget has increased by 2.4%, from $39.9 million to $40.9 million. However, DiCorpo’s salary posted a 4.6% drop from $225,000 to $214,664.
Benefits increased by 5.6%, from $10.8 million to $11.4 million. Specifically, the health insurance line item increased by 7.4% in this draft budget, the largest increase in this category.
A section titled “Other Capital” rose 58%, but only represented an increase of $8,380.
DiCorpo did not respond to specific questions about the budget on Monday, saying out of respect for the school board that she would not comment until the board heard and discussed it.
In the body of the budget proposal, DiCorpo writes, “Most importantly, this budget maintains class sizes to support small group and individualized instruction as we continue to navigate in-person learning during the pandemic” , she wrote. “As always, the District has worked hard to prioritize initiatives, find efficiencies, and reallocate resources to continue to improve the quality of education we provide to students, while maintaining a fiscally prudent budget proposal. and responsible.”
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