NAUGATUCK — A week after rejecting two separate proposed spending plans for the 2018-19 school year, the Board of Education in a special meeting Monday night settled on a new proposal.
The $62.2 million budget proposal would increase spending by $482,567, or 0.8 percent, over the current fiscal year’s budget.
Superintendent of Schools Sharon Locke last week proposed a $62.9 million spending plan which would have raised school spending by $1.22 million, or 1.97 percent, over the current budget. This plan was rejected by the board. The board also rejected a motion to approve a flat budget to present to borough officials.
The latest plan reduced the proposed spending increase. Most of the cost savings would come out of salary, stipend, transportation and capital expense line items, including a reduction in new teacher hires, eliminating a $65,000 proposal for an additional maintainer, reducing a part-time school nurse position, and reducing curriculum writing related expenses ($70,000) as well as crossing guard ($17,400) and athletic ($20,000) stipends.
The new proposal also reduces capital expenditures by $163,000 and transportation for community programs by $100,000 over the previous budget proposal.
The board also added back into the budget a proposal to fund a lacrosse program at Naugatuck High School that was previously cut by the board, Locke said in an email on Tuesday.
The board voted 8 to 0, with Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess abstaining, to approve the plan.
The budget is now expected to be presented to the Joint Boards of Mayor and Burgesses and Finance on April 2.
Locke said in the email while the new budget proposal represents further reductions from her initial proposal, the actions taken by the school board “were clear and intentional to preserve our programs and people.”
