Here Are The Many Reasons Why The Milford Schools Budget Will Be A Challenge

MILFORD, CT — The Milford Board of Education is about to begin its budget planning for fiscal 2024-25 and officials recently released their budget assumptions.

The information was written by school administrators and shared with Board of Education members at a meeting Tuesday night.

Here is what school officials wrote:

The charge of the Board is to develop a fiscally responsible budget that reflects the mission, vision, priorities and goals of the district.

● In an economy that is experiencing high inflation, a potential recession, supply chain issues, continued labor shortages and growing need for competitive wage increases, we anticipate a significant impact on multiple aspects of the 2024-2025 budget.
● The District used ESSER II and ARP COVID funding to pay for thirteen certified positions in the 2021-2022 school year. In order to avoid a funding cliff when the grant money expires, as planned, four of these positions were included in the 2022-2023 general fund budget and five in the 2023-2024 general fund budget. For the 2024-2025 budget, the remaining four positions will be off of the grant and paid through general funds.
● Enrollment experienced only a slight decrease from last year (5,338 students in 22-23 vs 5,284 students in 23-24) and showed an actual increase at the elementary level from what was projected (total projected 2,438 students vs. actual 2,470 students as of August 28, 2023). It is anticipated that enrollment will continue to decline slightly in 2024-2025 and will remain fairly stable for the next 5-10 years.
● Decisions around staffing and program redesign or development will be driven by their potential impact on raising student achievement while honoring the commitment to be fiscally responsible.
● Due to higher inflation and the state of the current labor market, negotiated settlements with our employee unions came in at an average of 3%, hence having a greater impact on the 24-25 budget. The cost of hourly employees will rise to keep pace with the State’s increasing minimum wage.
● The current health insurance plans for retirees, as contractually obligated, are projected to increase by 13-14%.
● Special education tuition and transportation costs can increase at any point during the year due to unanticipated costs based on students requiring services based on individual needs.

Unanticipated costs can occur if a student transfers into the district or a student who is already
in a specialized program requires a high level of intensive support due to medical complexities, unsafe behavior, or psychiatric needs. The district exhausts all options before recommending a student attend an out of district school. Additionally, we may need to develop additional
in-district programming for specialized instruction. Based on our current population and expenses in tuition and transportation, we estimate a 15% - 20% increase in tuition and transportation costs.

● Transportation costs will rise by approximately 3% reflecting the contractual increase with Durham Bus. In addition, fuel (diesel and gasoline) prices remain high and will impact the 2024-2025 budget. We will continue to work with the City to determine when it is strategic to lock into a fixed price for fuel based on economic and market conditions. We are also in the beginning stages of developing a preliminary plan of how the district will transition to electric buses by 2035 as required by federal and state regulations. It is too early to determine what impact this will have on the 2024-2025 budget but it will certainly be a major factor in the cost of transportation in the future.
● After an extended period of stable and low energy prices, last year’s energy market was extremely volatile. This was due to a number of global factors including the pandemic, record heat in some areas of the world and record cold in others, changing energy policies, the war in Ukraine, etc. These resulted in a shortage of natural gas supply and record high prices. We are currently locked into an unusually low rate through December 2024. We are actively working with our energy consultants and consortium to strategically lock in the best price moving forward from that date. However, we know that the rates will be significantly higher (possibly double in amount) than our current rate which will cause an impact in our 2024-2025 budget.
● The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) extended the deadline requiring school districts to adopt a state approved literacy program according to the Right to Read Act. While Milford Public Schools applied for a waiver, we have yet to hear a response from the CSDE. If our waiver is denied, we will need to be prepared to purchase one of the state approved programs estimated to cost us between $1.1 and $1.5 million for the first year of implementation, including the extensive revision of curriculum, purchase of required materials and necessary professional learning.
● The deadline for implementing two state mandates, HVAC system evaluation and menstrual product dispensers, were extended and will be implemented in the 2024-2025 school year. The HVAC system evaluation is expected to have a significant impact on the 2024-2025 budget.
● The District will continue to review and enhance our safety and security measures. This will include our continued participation in the SRO program as will our 50% funding share with the City.
● Efforts to find efficiencies within the budget will continue to be sought.