MONROE, CT — Board of Education member Dennis Condon asked if a $175,000 cut could be made to take the increase in their budget request for Monroe’s public schools below 6 percent, but then he and others on the board agreed that Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kobza’s spending plan had “no frills” and everything in it is needed.
After some discussion, the school board unanimously approved the entire $75,767,629 budget request for fiscal year 2025-26 — a $4,303,370 or 6.02 percent increase in spending over the current budget — at their meeting Tuesday night.
The proposal will now go to First Selectman Terry Rooney’s desk.
Board of Education Chairman David Ferris expressed his hope that more savings can be found later in the process, when the Board of Finance reviews the education budget, because then numbers, such as the actual health insurance increase and amount of state aid the district will receive, should be more solid.
Last year, initial health insurance estimates came in around $844,000 lower by the spring, offsetting much of the cuts.
But Finance Director Ronald Bunovsky Jr. has recently been hearing this year’s insurance increase will be between 11 and 13 percent for Fairfield County schools. The Board of Education’s budget proposal currently accounts for a 12 percent increase.
“We had a big savings with insurance last year,” Kobza said. “There’s not that same optimism this year.”
Another costly service outside of district control is special education, according to Ferris. He said the state of Connecticut used to provide funding for 70 percent of it, but now it’s at 60 to 65 percent, leaving a larger share to be paid with town taxes.
A new assistant principal position
Of the 6.02 percent increase being asked for, Kobza has said around 5.5 percent is contractual obligations, including salaries, utilities and insurance. Ferris said this year’s requested increase is over $592,000 less than last year’s request.
Ferris pointed out how school administrators originally asked for 16.5 new positions, before Kobza paired it down to the equivalent of four when adding the hours together.
The positions include a teacher for multilingual learners at Stepney Elementary School, an elementary math specialist, a school psychiatrist to float between Masuk High and Fawn Hollow Elementary schools, and an assistant principal at Stepney.
The budget also includes a 0.4 music teacher, as well as IT cybersecurity analyst and IT inventory specialist/tech II positions to be shared with the town.
During the board’s discussion Tuesday, the most talked about position was the assistant principal at Stepney. An entry level salary of $138,586 plus an additional $30,000 in insurance costs for a total of $168,586 was budgeted for the position.
If it were to be removed, the overall requested increase would be 5.79 percent, but board members say this would be to the detriment of Stepney.
Last year, an assistant principal was added at Fawn Hollow Elementary School, because enrollment is bursting at the seams and Principal Leigh Metcalf Ances needed more administrative help. Enrollment is also growing at Stepney, which currently has 512 students.
In a document answering questions about the 2025-26 budget request, the district said 16 of the 17 elementary schools with 500 or more students in Stepney’s district reference group (DRG B) have an assistant principal — and the one school that does not have one will see its enrollment drop to below 500 students after redistricting next year.
There are two schools with 900-plus students that have two assistant principals.
Of the 66 DRG B elementary schools with less than 500 students, 38 have assistant principals.
With an assistant principal, the majority of Principal Ashley Furnari’s day would be focused on operational leadership, taking away time from instructional leadership, according to the school board.
Instructional leadership includes overseeing curriculum and teaching, supporting and evaluating teachers, monitoring student progress and achievement, and managing educational programs. Teacher evaluations is another major component.
Operational leadership includes handling daily school operations, ensuring safety and discipline, managing the budget and resources, and engaging with parents and the community.
An assistant principal would allow Furnari to have more involvement on the instructional side.
“I think it’s definitely needed, especially the assistant principal,” Alan Vaglivelo, a board member, said of the entire budget request, adding of the assistant principal position for Stepney, “like I said 1,000 times, I don’t know how that building is being run without one. It’s an impossible job for one person. It’s an endless list of stuff to do.”
Chrissy Fensore Martinez, a fellow board member, also spoke in favor of having an assistant principal at Stepney, saying the board “kicked the can down the road” with Fawn Hollow before approving one for FHES last year, and is lucky Ances did not quit.
Martinez said there are more demands on principals than there were years ago.
“I reviewed this budget inside and out and there are no frills,” Jerry Stevens, a board member, said. “It’s a yeoman’s budget. I agree with Chrissy, it’s not going to get better. We can’t kick the can down the road.”
Of the assistant principal position, school board member, Jeffrey Fulchino, said, “if it’s not this year, what year is it going to be? The longer it goes, the harder it will be on our principals. If not now, then when?
Condon wondered if the responsibilities of the new position could be tailored in such a way to offset some of the needs and avoid a request for an assistant principal at Monroe Elementary School next year.
Board members Christine Cascella and Greg Beno, who wanted to ensure there were no cuts in maintenance, agreed with the rest of the board that the spending request for 2025-26 represents a “no frills budget.”
“If we’re going to drop it down to 5.9 for optics, it doesn’t make sense to me,” Martinez said of making a cut for the sake of cutting.
“In my opinion, this is a needs-based budget,” Condon said. “Everyone did a yeoman’s job. I’d like to approve it entirely.”
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