Schools

Administrators Break Down School Budget Proposal

Proposed increases driven by loss of federal funds, health care costs.

In a detailed parsing of the 2011-12 budget proposal before the school board, administrators said that the loss of federal funds has created an accounting anomaly that makes a 3 percent increase look like a 5.6 percent increase.

Administrators said during the board's first budget workshop on Wednesday that the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds received for the past two years were accounted for differently than the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) funds they, in part, replaced.

This year, the town expects the state to make up for $2.3 million of the $3.8 million in lost ARRA funds with its ECS contribution. The town also expects to receive a $600,000 federal education jobs grant that will offset some of the loss as well.

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That leaves a net loss of $900,000 in federal funding that must come from the general budget. But because of the way the different funds are distributed, the school board's budget shows a total increase of 5.6 percent instead of 3 percent.

In such a tight budget year, the board had expected it might receive even less from the state to make up for the lost ARRA funds, but members said the loss of federal funds is still significant.

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"Every town is pretty much facing this issue right now," board member Elin Katz said. Katz said she had attended a meeting of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and heard similar sentiments.

Of the 3 percent increase requested, a large majority is due to benefit costs, including medical claims and pension contributions, said Chip Ward, the district's director of finance and planning.

As an example of the high costs of medical coverage, Ward said the system spends half a million dollars on cholesterol-lowering Lipitor alone.

"So the overwhelming driver of our increase is benefits," board chairwoman Clare Kindall said.

The board will hold its second budget workshop on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in town hall, Room 314.

To review the complete budget proposal for 2011-12 on the West Hartford Public Schools Web site, click here.


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