8 percent increase for school budget unveiled

Vermont Standard
1/16/20
By Allan Stein
Standard Staff

The Windsor Central union school board unveiled on Monday a preliminary fiscal 2021 budget of $17.09 million, and voted to raise out-of-district tuition by $500.

In another unanimous decision, the board voted that $200,000 worth of repairs at The Prosper Valley School be funded through the “operating budget, loans, and/or private donations.”

Members also discussed the possibility of instituting a $50 participation fee for all school athletic programs, which would raise an additional $20,000 in district revenues.

The proposed $17,096,833 budget shows an increase of $1,293,084, or 8.18 percent above the current $15,803,749 budget for fiscal 2020.

Main factors driving the $1.3 million increase include contractual obligations which total $529,000, including early retirement, which comes in at $125,000.

Health care costs are also expected to increase by $425,000, or 12.9 percent, in fiscal 2021, which begins July 1.

According to a budget overview, “this year’s budget reflects an anticipated positive vote of merged district taxpayers to accept Barnard into the (Windsor Unified Union School District). As on-going communications are taking place with the Agency of Education to address the structural issues associated with Pittsfield and its implications for needing to maintain a separate WCSU budget, the FY21 budget is built as a single integrated budget and informs tax rates of member towns” in the union district.

Budget highlights include a 2.6 percent increase of 23 equalized pupils from last year. Education spending per pupil is also up 4.1 percent, or $740 per student, from $17,944 to $18,733. The state’s penalty phase kicks in at $18,756.

For every dollar over budget that is spent, the state penalizes the district $2, said WCSU Chair Paige Hiller.

Board members recently voiced concern that the proposed budget for fiscal 2021 contains only $50,000 for buildings and grounds maintenance.

By raising out-of-district high school tuition by $500 — from the current $18,000 to $18,500 — the amount of additional revenues generated for buildings and maintenance would be $55,000. “We feel it is really incredibly important to start building that (maintenance) fund,” Hiller said. Buildings and grounds are “really coming up short. You can’t maintain buildings with $50,000.”

The positive vote designating a funding source for The Prosper Valley School (TPVS) will enable the next phase of repairs. The school was forced to close down in late 2018 due to moisture and mold infestation.

The school had 93 pupils enrolled in grades K-6 from Pomfret and Bridgewater, all of whom have been transferred to Woodstock Elementary School. District officials have been working on a plan to get the school back up and running with a new configuration plan. The breakdown of the repairs is as follows: $44,000 for cleaning costs, $100,000 for a new heating and ventilation system, $2,500 for water meters, and an as yet determined amount for a potential water main break.
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“We feel it is really incredibly important to start building that (maintenance) fund,” Hiller said. Buildings and grounds are “really coming up short. You can’t maintain buildings with $50,000.”

Is the district not properly funding maintenance of the  buildings and grounds so they can say they're in disrepair to try and justify their $68 million proposal for a new school?
Vito