Now through April, the Granby Board of Education’s top priority is budgeting for the 2025 – 2026 school year. Granby school district operating costs make up approximately 70 percent of the entire town budget. Any increase or decrease in school expenditures impacts all taxpayers, a responsibility no town board volunteer takes lightly. It’s also a reality that invites extra scrutiny to the BOE. While the BOE budget book provides detailed costs, I thought it would be helpful to provide some specifics regarding its largest expenditures and answers to some common questions.
Where Does the Money Go?
It’s important to understand the makeup of Granby’s tax base. Granby has a population of approximately 11,000, with a median household income of approximately $117,476. (https://www.connecticut-demographics.com/granby-demographics). Granby’s infrastructure is limited and cannot support the type of large commercialization that would help relieve the individual taxpayer burden. This results in a greater impact on individual households.
Salaries and Benefits:
The largest part of the BOE budget is salaries and benefits for staff. This amounts to 72 percent of the budget, or approximately $29 million. Enrollment versus staffing (see in the chart below).
It’s natural to ask, “why has the total number of employees gone up in recent years when enrollment has gone down?” The answer is rooted in the evolving needs of today’s students. Since joining Granby in 2023, Superintendent Cheri Burke, with BOE guidance, has streamlined and reorganized district administrators in a way that better addresses students’ social, behavioral and academic needs. Teachers have been either reduced through attrition (retirement and resignation) or repositioned to other grades. The superintendent expects to reduce staff by an additional four members in FY 26.
Special Education
The second largest expenditure in the BOE budget is special education. Special Education (SPED) costs are substantial and children requiring these needs are increasing dramatically, not just in Granby, but throughout the entire country. We are legally required to meet all of our students’ special education needs.
How Can We Save Costs?
Superintendent Burke and School Finance Director Nickie Stevenson engage the BOE finance subcommittee monthly with challenges, ideas and cost savings –such as the recent renegotiation of the school bus contract that saved the district just over $200,000 this year. A significant step discussed to offset massive SPED costs is to create specialized programs that would allow keeping more special needs students in-district.
Currently, Granby transports several children to out-of-district facilities whose programs meet their needs. Each outplacement on average costs the district $110,000 per student. Our costs to educate a student with special needs in Granby schools is often less than half of that cost. While it’s fiscally rewarding, keeping children among their hometown peers also positions all students to be contributing members of our school community. An established program could also host students from other towns, which would generate income for Granby. Investments like these, however, require seed money. Today, that is a challenge.
BOF Guidance
The BOE would need a 3.4 percent budget increase just to maintain the schools as they are this year — no additions. To add the School Resource Officer program recently passed by the BOE would require a 3.67 percent increase. Granby’s Board of Finance has provided guidance that would require the BOE to reduce our need to 3.25 percent meaning difficult cuts must be considered.
We believe the future of Granby is our children. We know that property values are dependent on thriving schools and a strong educational system. We are proud to have a superintendent and administrative team that is forward thinking and navigating students’ needs for specialized education along with the demands of rising costs and lost grant funding since COVID. Our goal is to come in at the BOF guidance of 3.25 percent; however, many challenging decisions remain. We invite you to engage in the budget process and share your opinions.