Voters to decide budget, appropriation

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Referendum forced on Region 16 spending plan

REGION 16 — Voters will have the final say on the proposed Region 16 school budget and a supplemental appropriation next week.

The proposed $40.5 million 2015-16 budget for the region, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, will be voted on May 5 at a referendum.

The Board of Education sent the budget to a vote at a district meeting May 4 at 7 p.m. at Long River Middle School in Prospect. However, the public forced the referendum through petitions.

Voting on the budget will be from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the firehouse in Prospect, 26 New Haven Road, and Woodland Regional High School in Beacon Falls, 135 Back Rimmon Road.

The proposed budget is an increase of $796,500 or 2 percent over current school spending. The net education cost for Beacon Falls under the proposed budget is $10,832,933, an increase of $382,621 or 3.66 percent. Prospect’s net education cost will increase $502,894 or 3.01 percent to $17,224,839 under the spending plan.

The budget proposal includes implementing a full-day kindergarten program, which will cost an additional $388,521. Other major increases in the budget include a $453,667 increase for health insurance and $261,175 more for utilities.

The budget includes staff changes among certified and non-certified personnel. The majority of the changes come as a result of Algonquin and Community Schools merging into the new Prospect Elementary School in the fall.

In the end, the budget reduces staff by the equivalent of 6.1 full-time positions. Salaries for certified and non-certified staff will increase $116,225.

The spending plan also includes $9,500 for a STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math) enrichment program and $4,500 to develop a talented and gifted program at Long River Middle School in Prospect.

“The budget provides the resources and programs that are necessary to produce the highest student achievement and is fiscally responsible as well,” Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin said.

Yamin said the budget is tight. If the board has to reduce the increase, he said, the reductions will impact programs and personnel.

The budget isn’t the only question voters will decide.

The school board is seeking a supplemental appropriation of $384,882 from the 2013-14 year-end budget balance into a capital non-recurring account.

State statute allows regional school districts to create a capital non-recurring account, which can only be used to pay for one-time capital expenses. Under state law, regional school districts can appropriate 1 percent of their budgets annually into the account.

Officials plan to use the $384,882 to continue repairs to parts of the roof at Woodland Regional High School.

The vote on the appropriation will be at the district meeting May 4. If the appropriation is rejected, the money will be returned to the towns and school officials will have to find another avenue to fund the roof repairs.