Trumbull school budget talk ends on sobering note

TRUMBULL — Superintendent of Schools Martin Semmel concluded two days of discussion of his proposed budget for the 2023-24 school year on somewhat sobering note. Thursday was the second day of workshops on the proposal, and various education department heads gave presentations to the Board of Education about what they were requesting and why. Overall, Semmel's proposed education budget is for just under $122.4 million, about $6.4 million more than the current year. That translates to an increase of roughly 5.5 percent. Despite that, throughout the budget process, Semmel maintained that this is a "lean" budget request and much of the rise is due to factors he has no control over, such as inflation and mandated salary increases. "This really is a lean budget, even though the number seems much higher" than the current budget, he said. "What we’re asking for is really not a tremendous amount of additional items." To drive that point home, he showed the board members a slide showing the kinds of sacrifices that the schools would need to make if the board passed a budget with only a 3.22 percent budget increase. Semmel said that would require making $2.73 million in cuts to the budget proposal, which would mean losing some significant current programs and staff members. For instance, he said, there would likely be a reduction in literacy and math specialists, and a reduction of extra curricular activities and a possible increase in participation fees. Class sizes would go up due to staff cuts and the district would likely have to reduce its investment in technology. "It would be a lot of money for the Board of Education to find," Semmel said. On the bright side, he said, it's possible that some of the costs outlined in his budget proposal might be lower than expected. For instance, Semmel said, he originally budgeted for an 8 percent increase in health insurance costs, because that's the maximum increase the budget could face under its current provider. However, Semmel said, the actual increase could be lower. Another area where the bump might be lower than expected is transportation. Semmel's proposal budgets for a roughly 20 percent increase in transportation costs, but the district's five-year contract with its current transportation provider ends in June and bids for a new provider are due this month. Depending on the new provider, those costs could be lower than predicted. Workshops on the budget proposal started Tuesday, Jan. 10. There was a possibility that there would be a third workshop, but the board deemed that unnecessary and canceled it. The Board of Education is expected to adopt its budget on Feb. 7 and to pass that budget on to First Selectman Vicki Tesoro on Feb. 10. After the budget presentation, board chair Lucinda Timpanelli thanked all those who spoke, and vowed the board members would do what they could to prevent potential cuts in programming and staff. "Let’s all say a little prayer and hope for the best," she said.

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