Region 7 board hosts budget presentations

REGION 7 — With the spring budget season now in full swing, the Region 7 School District Board of Education will hold a series of informal budget presentations over the next several weeks in each of the four towns the district serves to provide an opportunity for residents to review and comment on the proposal.

Region 7 Superintendent of Schools Clint Montgomery has put forward a $17.9 million working budget for the district’s 2010-11 school year, a 1.7-percent increase over current spending levels.

The working budget, which was presented to the district’s Board of Education at its Feb. 24 meeting, proposes reductions in certified and non-certified staffing levels throughout the district, including classroom teachers.

In all, up to 28 employees could be affected, with some staff members being laid off and others having their regular hours reduced.

While the working budget does not include proposals to eliminate any district programs, it does call for the scope of some to be reduced.

Other areas targeted for proposed reductions include student field trips, professional development for teachers and other staff members, equipment and supply purchases and computer hardware costs.

In addition, there are no new programs included in the budget that are not paid for by grants.

Currently, the district, which serves the towns of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, New Hartford and Norfolk, is operating on a $17.6 million budget for the 2009-10 school year, which represented a zero-percent increase from the previous budget.

The driving force behind this year’s budget difficulties for the district is an unexpected jump of more than 30 percent in health-care benefit package costs for staff.

The school board, which held its first presentation Wednesday at Botelle Elementary School in Norfolk, has set its budget development calendar as follows:

• March 31 — Informal budget presentation at Barkhamsted School, 7 p.m.

• April 6 — Informal budget presentation at New Hartford Senior Center, 7 p.m.

• April 7 — Informal budget presentation at Colebrook Consolidated School, 7 p.m. (in conjunction with town budget meeting)

• April 19 — Regional budget hearing at Northwestern Regional High School Little Theater/Auditorium, 7 p.m. (board expected to adopt its final budget, which goes to district budget meeting following hearing)

• May 3 — District budget meeting at Northwestern Regional High School Little Theater/Auditorium

• May 4 — Region 7 budget referendum, if designated by board or by petition

The Board of Education, which has yet to make changes or vote on the working budget, was expected to adopt an official “hearing budget†at Wednesday’s presentation in Norfolk. The Journal will report on the details of that meeting on its Web site, tcextra.com, later today.

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