Milford's Board Of Education Approves Adjusted School Budget

MILFORD, CT – The Board of Education proposed 106.4 million for the 2023-24 budget. However, after the finance board reduced it by 1.8 million, Milford’s Board of Aldermen reinstated 1.65 million into the Board of Education budget, giving it a total of 106.2 million.

Based on the initial request, school administrators needed to reduce $198,816 from the 2023-24 education budget.

During the Board of Education meeting on Monday, May 22, the board approved the school administration’s recommended adjustment to the 2022-23 adopted budget.

To reach the goal of reducing $198,000 school administration recommended several adjustments.

One of them was Deferring the teacher-in-residency program for teachers and substitutes and deferring non-instructional supplies for the program resulting in $73,200 of savings.

“The teacher residency program is offered through CREC,” Wendy Kopazna, said Director of Human Resources. “It’s an alternative rep certification focusing on increasing teachers of color across the state, so it’s a very important program and one we were happy to participate in.”

Kopazna said it is an intense, rigorous program, and the teacher works for the school district for the entire year and attends classes at night and on weekends.

“We’d also like to have the opportunity this year to explore other organizations we can partner with,” Cutaia said.

School administrators also proposed to reduce $10,616 from the digital scanning of HR records and to defer the state Mandated HVAC System evaluation and the state-mandated menstrual products to the 2024-24 school budget saving $155,000.

Chief Operations Officer James Richetelli said that after deferring the teacher-in-residency program, digital scanning and state mandates, it leaves a plus side of $40,000 reserved for a space utilization district-wide study.

“If the money were restored and we did not have to close a school, that would allow the board to look at what we have,” he said. “We will look at what space is available, look at what the enrollment projections are for the years to come, the programming in the schools, and what we foresee for the future and do whatever needs to be done for the future with an informed eye.”

Richetelli said they are going to propose and undertake a utilization study.

“The study will take about three to four months,” he said. “Based on the study, we expect the consultant firm to come back to us and, at some point in the future, report back to the board with their finds at a public meeting.”