Board Of Education Presents $30.5 Million Budget To Boards

In a presentation to the Boards of Selectmen and Finance Feb. 28, Superintendent of Schools Jack Cross outlined the proposed $30,538,728 school budget for the upcoming fiscal year which begins July 1, 2012.

The budget represents an increase over current spending of $355,265 or 1.18 percent.

His previous presentation to the

The decrease from that first presentation to the one this week represented cuts in several areas including a decrease of $119,000 in employee medical insurance programs and a decrease in $43,000 in electricity projections due to the town-wide lighting upgrade and negotiations with energy brokers.

There was one increase to the original January 23 presentation which includes $17,000 added for the school's share of a School Resource Officer (SRO) at the Morgan School ($10,000) and Eliot School ($7,000).

Several members of the Board of Finance asked questions of the budget including Valerie Nye who wished for an explanation of why costs per student in Clinton appear higher than in other towns.

The cost per student in Clinton for this proposed budget is $15,171 for one year.

Cross said there are two main factors that lead to higher costs - one being the fact that Clinton offers all day Kindergarten which requires additional staffing needs. The other, said Cross, is that the town has a higher threshold of funding health benefits for staff such as paraprofessionals, custodians and secretaries.

"Many other districts do not offer the same level of coverage," said Cross.

Health costs represent approximately $5 million out of the $30 million total costs.