By Beth Carroll
As a 20+ year resident of Granby, I urge you all to read this article before you rubber stamp the School Budget in the April vote.
#1: $937,000 extra in last fiscal year’s budget
Did you know that the school had an excess of $937,000 at the end of the last fiscal year’s budget? (Announced in summer 2025.) That’s almost a million dollars that they, by law, can keep and spend without our approval.
This excess money was spent on the new roof on the BOE building, new bleachers at the high school and part of a $1.2 million dollar upgrade to various security systems in the schools!
#2: State of Connecticut Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR)
Did you know that the State of Connecticut has a formula to use to determine the minimum dollar amount that must be budgeted for each school system?
The minimum amount required by the state for Granby’s school budget for last year was $36,155,291.
Last year’s approved budget in Granby totaled $39,418,142—more than $3 million dollars over the state mandate. We are a generous community spending between $20,000 and $21,000 per student.
#3: Proposed budget for the April 2026 vote
Did you know that the preliminary school budget for the April 2026 vote is $40,691,907? That is 3.8 percent greater than last year’s approved budget.
Yet the student population is not projected to increase next year.
In fact, the school budget has increased more than 40 percent since the 2017–18 Fiscal Year!
#4: Additional school funding
Did you know that the school operating budget is not the only money that Granby schools have available to spend every year?
We taxpayers also provide $1 million from our town operating budget to the school system to address normal wear and tear and replacement or maintenance needs.
There are also several revenue generating programs offered by our school system that can create funds in excess of expenses for the BOE to spend as they see fit.
So, the $40 million dollar school operating budget is not the total amount that the school system has for spending in a fiscal year. It is really between $41 and $42 million.
#5: Active lawsuits pending
Did you know that there are four active lawsuits against the Granby School System at the present time? These may be resolved this year with financial implications for our town. If not, we are paying insurance fees that may be increased dramatically based on the outcomes of each lawsuit.
In summary, I want our schools funded at an appropriate level; however, I am not sure that an increase of this size is warranted year after year.
And don’t forget that the April 20 vote only covers the town and school operating budgets. That vote is not for the bonding expenditures for the sports fields and town library project that will occur later in 2026.
I urge everyone to vote on April 20.