Board of Ed Budget Workshop Meeting Tonight

The education budget, which has been presented with a 4.98 percent increase over last year, will be workshopped at tonight's Board of Education meeting.

 The budget was presented to the Board of Education and a full audience on Tuesday night.  The budget was described by Middle School Principal Kevin Smith, Ph.D., as status quo. “The present proposal of 4.98 percent is significantly higher than past years,” he said. “But when you look at the last four years together, the average increase is less than 1.5 percent and reflects Bethel as a school district that took the economic conditions to heart.”

 Smith said the majority of increases are due to teacher contracts that have not changed in three years, and health care costs which go up every year. “We are trending at national norms for cost,” he said.

 Also lacking in this year's budget are federal funds that reduced Bethel's budget last year. “Last year we had $500,000 for jobs money from the federal government, and that reduced the overall cost of our budget. Now we have to fill that cost,” Smith said.

According to Superintendent Gary Chesley, the Board of Education has already submitted 40 questions to Terry Yonski, the director of fiscal services.

“The board is spending their time, individually, going line by line. They are at the point they want to cut something from the budget, but they can't find anything. There are no big expenses, everything is by nickel and dime,” Chesley said.  

The meeting will be held Tonight, Thursday, Jan 26, at 7 p.m. in Meeting Room E at the Clifford J. Hurgin Municipal Center.