$130.6 Million Budget Proposed For Darien Public Schools

DARIEN, CT — Darien Superintendent of Schools Dr. Eric Byrne presented his first budget as leader of the school district last week, and received positive feedback from the Board of Education.

The proposed budget is $130.64 million, which represents a 3.88 percent increase over the approved FY26 spending plan of $125.76 million.

Byrne said the spending plan is a reflection of the hard work of a lot of people on the central administrative team, as well as district leadership. The Jan. 8 budget presentation is available to watch on YouTube and DarienTV.

"We feel like we've created a really good program driven budget that meets the needs of our students while recognizing the need for fiscal responsibility for the community," Byrne said.

The projected enrollment for the next school year is considered "flat," Byrne said.

There is growth at the elementary school level, with the addition of 38 students across five schools - including 13 at Tokeneke and 12 at Holmes.

There's a reduction of eight students from Middlesex Middle School and 48 students from Darien High School, which gives the district a net decrease of 18 students for 2026-2027.

To support the growth at the elementary level, a number of personnel additions are being proposed.

Five elementary instructional coaches are proposed to be added, along with one teacher each at Hindley and Holmes, a special education teacher at Middlesex Middle School, and a part-time ELP psychologist.

A public information coordinator is also proposed for the school district on the non-instructional side, along with a part-time Wellness Coordinator and two student transportation drivers (special education).

"We do not just go through the process and look at adding. We look at where are those positions and opportunities that enrollment may actually drive the need to have fewer people in positions," Byrne added.

As a result, proposed personnel reductions include an MMS world language teacher, a DHS mathematics teacher (.6 Full Time Equivalent), DHS world language teacher (.4 FTE), and a reduction from Darien High School English (.2 FTE).

"These will have no impact on programs," Byrne said of the proposed positional cuts. "These are positions and parts of positions that are eliminated due to decrease in enrollment."

Salaries are the main budget driver, making up 2.60 percent of the proposed 3.88 percent spending plan increase.

A capital budget of $1,915,550 is being proposed. About 60 percent of that amount is for paving operations at DHS, as well as Hindley, Holmes and Royle.

There are smaller dollar amounts requested for school security radio replacements, bollards and camera and infrastructure replacements.

The board asked very few questions following Byrne's presentation, and offered praise for the proposed budget and the budget process so far.

"Usually coming into January I'm full of angst and nerves," said board member Sara Parent. "This is delightful. Thank you for making just the initial number reasonable and the process reasonable. I'm excited about the next few months."

Chairperson Robin Nelson, who couldn’t attend the meeting in person, said virtually she felt the proposed budget “is extremely well prepared, well presented and well thought out.”

Here's the upcoming school budget schedule in Darien

• Curriculum & Instruction and Schools budget presentations and discussions at regular Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
• Special Education and Athletics budgets presentations and discussions on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
• Operations budget presentation and discussion on Tuesday, Jan. 27
• FY27 Budget public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
• Board of Education FY27 budget vote on Thursday, Feb. 5.

You can watch Byrne's full budget presentation from Jan. 8 on YouTube and DarienTV.