MONROE, CT — Board of Education members used grant money to trim Superintendent Joseph Kobza’s 2022-23 budget proposal by $396,137, before approving a $64.4 million plan with a 4.75 percent spending increase. Chairman David Ferris said he wanted to use all of the $792,273 in remaining federal grant money, given to the district to mitigate learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, to reduce the budget increase even further, but the consensus of the majority of the board was to use 50 percent. “It’s a compromise,” Vice Chairwoman Shannon Reilly said during the meeting Tuesday. “I think it’s the fairest compromise we can come up with.” Earlier in the meeting, Board of Finance Chairman Michael Manjos recommended using grant money to reduce Kobza’s request for a 5.39 percent increase, which was driven primarily by growing enrollment and contractual obligations.
