This budget season, the Granby Board of Education (BOE) has presented a great deal of data and information with one goal in mind: encouraging community engagement. Due to Granby’s limited tax base, the BOE budget falls squarely on the shoulders of taxpayers. That’s why it’s imperative the BOE provide transparency into the process, the challenges and offers ample opportunity for community feedback. In that spirit, I’d like to summarize where we are on the budget timeline and raise key questions as we get closer to the budget vote.
How we got here
As requested by the board of finance (BOF) of all Granby’s operating boards, a “Plus One” budget was presented by Superintendent Cheri Burke in February. The intent of this draft is to provide the community and the BOF a reasonable perspective of what would help improve our schools. This included new and necessary positions like a Student Resource Office (SRO), a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), plus funding to maintain our grounds and fund new initiatives that would provide future cost-savings. This budget amounted to a 5.67 percent increase.
The BOF then provided the BOE with budget parameters based on current financial restrictions and what it perceives is the appetite of the taxpayer. That guidance limited the BOE to a 3.25 percent budget increase, which was 0.15 less what the BOE would need to maintain the status quo from prior years. In the weeks following, Burke, in collaboration with the BOF, was able to reach a 3.4 percent budget increase (with a taxpayer impact of 3.25 based upon some transfers between funds discussed in the March 12 BOE meeting). It should be noted that the average school district budget increase across Connecticut, as of March 17, is 5.42 percent.
Key Points
First, the 3.25 percent increase is the lowest increase in five years and at a time when COVID funds are gone and threats of revocation of federal funding loom. Second, the approximately $7 million of federal, state and local reimbursements and revenue goes directly to Granby’s general fund. In addition, the BOE has returned an average of $319,000 to the town every year by staying lean.
Finally, Granby teacher salaries rank 29th out of 30 in lowest pay, only above Hartford Public Schools, out of 30 districts in Hartford County. Still, Granby students’ proficiency on the SAT ranks third in our DRG1 for ELA2 and fourth in math.
What’s Next—Your role
To meet BOF guidance, the BOE has been doing more with less for a long time and the question the community must consider is how much longer that can be sustained. Burke states frequently that “we are ‘this close’ to greatness.” Are the members of the community willing to invest in safe schools? Retain quality teachers? Expand programs where every child’s need is met and growth is limitless? Or, are we okay with “good enough?”
The communication we’ve received at town meetings or through email outreach has been informative as we work to understand community inclination for investing in our schools and to ensure taxpayer expectations are met. The next opportunity for engagement on the budget will be the BOF Public Hearing at Granby Memorial High School on April 7 at 7 p.m.
The ultimate measurement of public sentiment around the budget is voting. Voter attendance at budget referendum averages just 11 percent. Passage is often by a thin margin so we encourage everyone’s participation in this important decision.
For more details on this year’s education budget, go to granbyschools.org
Footnotes: 1) District Reference Group; 2) English Language Arts