Gilbert requests $400K increase

WINSTED — In a presentation sent to town representatives earlier this month, Gilbert School Superintendent Anthony Serio has requested a budget of $7,232,866 for the next fiscal year, which is an increase of $408,379 from the current 2012-2013 fiscal year.“The projected budget represents the first budget increase since academic year 2010-2011,” Serio said in a letter with his presentation. “This projected budget represents a 4 percent tuition increase.”Serio said the increase will be proportioned between the W.L. Gilbert Trust Corp., Winsted, and Hartland based on enrollments from each town.The corporation was formed in 1895 to manage the endowment left by William L. Gilbert to build The Gilbert School.According to The Gilbert School’s website, the corporation continues to manage the endowment and charitable gifts to the endowment.The trust also manages $1 million designated for scholarships and $3.5 million designated for programs and capital expenses that cannot be covered by the school’s operating budget.Serio noted the school’s initially proposed budget was for a more than $700,000 increase.He said the school cut out several proposed expenditures in order to cut down on the budget increase, including requests for a new generator and tractor, a curriculum coordinator, teaching supplies and a part-time personnel support employee.Serio said the school’s administration made further cuts in the proposed budget including the elimination of several positions and additional improvements to the school’s facilities.“We are now in the process of reviewing $185,000 in potential reductions that will bring our projected budget request down to $7,262,866,” Serio said. “The search for the reduction will come from an ongoing analysis of full-time equivalent staff and student enrollment.”Serio said the school would determine its final reductions in early spring.As for what is driving the proposed budget increase, Serio cited the need for additional staffing at the school.In the proposed budget, Serio requests the hiring of a part-time English Language Learners (ELL) teacher, a part-time physics teacher and a part-time mathematics teacher.Serio also is requesting the hiring of a full-time English teacher.“These [positions] will allow for the development of more elective courses and advanced placement classes,” Serio said. “We must provide additional classes to meet the mandate from the state’s Department of Education that our graduates must attain 25 credits starting with the class of 2016. The advanced placement offerings will further raise the rigor of our program and our goal to have every student take an advanced placement offering prior to graduation.”According to Serio’s budget statistics, teacher salaries for the current budget year are $4,637,009.If the proposed teachers are hired for fiscal 2013-2014, the new hires would increase the school’s teacher salaries line item by $302,894, an estimated 6.5 percent increase from the current fiscal year.While he did not specify an exact budget figure, Serio said health insurance costs paid by the school for full-time employees are set to increase by 9.5 percent from the 2012-2013 fiscal year.Serio also did not specify a budget figure for a proposed project to replace the school’s boiler.In a previous interview in October, Gilbert Corporation Chairman Steven Sedlak said the combination oil and gas boiler was installed when the current Gilbert School building opened in 1959.Sedlak said the boiler is in dire need of replacement and said a construction project to replace the boiler would cost more than $600,000.