White River Junction
The spending plan would be a 3 percent, or $1.15 million, increase over the current budget.
The budget lists around $691,000 in estimated salary increases, including $363,000 from teacher salary contracts, $194,000 in step increases and $20,000 for track changes. However, actual salary negotiations for 2019-20 are ongoing, according to Hartford School District Superintendent Tom DeBalsi.
“We have to put in an amount to cover what we negotiate,” DeBalsi wrote in a Tuesday email. “It could be more or less than this but we estimate a cost of living, step and changes due to turnover and any retirements. It is (difficult) to get this amount exact at this time of year, but … we do the best we possibly can to be as close to what we think it will end up.”
Salaries and benefits account for more than 73 percent of the total budget.
One of the biggest drivers of the proposed increase is an 11.3 percent, or $220,485 increase, in health insurance costs that Hartford School District Superintendent Tom DeBalsi called one of “the most notable items in the budget thus far” in an email on Tuesday.
While DeBalsi said it’s too early to predict the budget’s impact on taxpayers, pending state revenue amounts, one document lists a possible school tax rate of $1.60 per $100 of assessed value, a 3-cent decrease from the current school year.
The same document incorporates more than $707,000 in state education grant funding.
“The budget is still in draft form,” DiBalsi wrote on Tuesday. “The expenses will be set (tonight), so it is premature to talk about the impact of the discussions before they occur.”
A robust state revenue figure would allow school officials to fund an elementary world language program, according to DiBalsi. “We will also continue to fund various facility improvements and upgrades,” he added.
The proposal includes an increase in special education funding of $250,000, or 5.1 percent, and overall education spending per pupil at $16,505, a 2.1 percent increase.
A message left for School Board Chairman Kevin Christie was not returned Tuesday afternoon.
Tonight’s School Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hartford Town Hall.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.