Westport approves 2024-25 school budget of $143.6M
Down from original projections
WESTPORT — The 2024-25 school budget is set for Westport, coming in at an increase of 5.38 percent, down from original projections.
The Representative Town Meeting approved $143.6 million Tuesday night for the school district, which is about $3.6 million lower than originally recommended by the Board of Finance. This is part of the total town and school of $243.1 million, the remainder of which was approved the previous night for the town.
“We’re proud to live and work in a town that values and prioritizes our schools and education the way that Westport does,” Board of Education Chair Lee Goldstein said at the meeting.
After taking administrator and central office budget requests and revising Superintendent Thomas Scarice’s proposed budget, the Board of Education originally recommended a budget of $147.3 million, which would have been an 8.08 percent increase based on a former healthcare projection.
Goldstein said the message this year is “holding steady,” not adding nor cutting anything from the previous year.
If healthcare wasn’t accounted for, the budget increase would be under 3 percent, she said. The Board of Education was able to get to a lower number on healthcare by switching from a high deductible, private provider to the state provider. All bargaining parties in the district agreed to switch to this.
Other than healthcare, the most significant budget driver is special education, Goldstein said, specifically outplacement tuition for those who may need to be placed in other schools for their education. “We have a legal and moral obligation, but I want to highlight that it’s also our privilege to educate every student, which we do,” she said.
The cost for these tuition rates have increased about 36 percent, Longo said, though the amount of students using these services has decreased from 42 in 2020 to a projection of 37 in 2024 and 38 in 2025.
Salaries make up 62.4 percent of the budget, followed by benefits at 17.2 percent, and other purchase services such as student transportation and special education tuition at 9.9 percent.
The process for establishing a budget starts in October, in which the district leadership team determines priorities for the upcoming school year, Scarice said.
Annual priorities are to keep the reputation as a premier school district, maintain current services, ensure safety and security of students and staff, respond to the Master Plan Facility Study and comply with all federal and state mandates, Scarice said.
Priorities for the 202425 budget are to preserve and protect, specifically keep current levels of staffing and programming, continue year two of the Strategic Plan and Equity Study Action Plan and implement curriculum renewal for world language and social studies, he added.
Enrollment is also projected to increase in Westport by 35 students in kindergarten through 5th grade, 12 in high school and 11 in preschool, but decrease by 15 in middle school. Multiple schools in the surrounding area are seeing a decrease in enrollment, including Darien, Weston, Wilton, New Canaan and Ridgefield.
Westport’s school district has a 2.72 percent 10year compound annual growth rate in its budget. Darien, Wilton and Weston are lower than this, while New Canaan and Ridgefield are higher.