Schools

BoE Approves Budget Proposal for 2011-12

Plan Maintains Level of Education, Reflects 1 Percent Effective Increase

The Ledyard Board of Education approved a $29.6 million budget proposal for 2011-12 Wednesday, just hours after Gov. Dan Malloy reassured the state’s towns and cities that the Education Cost Sharing grants they depend on to run their schools will be funded in full.

“We were keeping our fingers crossed,” Ledyard schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Graner said as he presented the budget plan to board members.

The actual bottom line is $29,607,964, an increase of $994,614 over this year’s budget, or 3.48 percent.

Find out what's happening in Ledyardwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But Graner again noted the board’s decision last August to save a $703,000 federal grant, which can now be used to offset the bulk of the increase. The resulting increase of just over $291,000 reflects an effective increase to Ledyard taxpayers of about 1 percent.  

The plan budgets $22,104,226 for salaries and benefits, an increase of $682,640, or 3.19 percent. The instructional account would total $3, 210,901, an increase of $34,395, or 1.08 percent. The operational account budget of $4,292,837 would reflect an increase of $277,579, or 6.91 percent.

Find out what's happening in Ledyardwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“This budget does several things,” Graner said. Among them, he said, it maintains an average class size of 21-22 students, it maintains all curricular and extra-curricular programs now in place, and it supports both national standards and high school educational reforms.

Board member Thomas Malone noted that Ledyard teachers have not taken a pay raise in two years. He acknowledged that many state and federal employees are now facing wage freezes, “but we’ve already done that before is was in vogue,” he said. “This budget is probably the best bargain for the dollar you’re going to get.”

Board chairwoman Sharon Hightower agreed.

“This budget provides the kind of stability we need for the children in our school district, especially in light of what’s coming down the road,” she said.

The budget received unanimous approval from board members.

Vet Assistant certificates presented

In other business, the board presented Veterinary Assistant certificates to nine animal science students at the high school. To earn the certificates, the students studied units ranging such as ethics and law, diseases and parasites, and anatomy.

Animal science teacher Devon O’Keefe said the certificates prepare the students to work with animals in a variety of settings. Receiving the certificates were Karen Fernandez, Sara Dart-Ford, Brianna Flickner, Crystal Haynes, Nikole Joseph, Kayleigh Paul, Caitlin Read and Kaitlyn Way.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here