Sharon Board of Ed. ordered to revise budget for 0% increase

SHARON – The Board of Education voted to cut nearly $70,000 from the staff salaries section of its 2026-2027 budget proposal during a special meeting held Wednesday, April 8.

The decision came after a March 31 directive from the Sharon Board of Finance to reduce the BOE budget by $69,477, bringing it to a 0% increase over the current year. With the reduction, the new draft – which is the ninth version of the document the BOE has reviewed this budget cycle –now totals $4,123,996.

The BOE is not permitted to go below this number due to the state’s Minimum Budget Requirement, or the MBR, which prohibits municipalities from spending less on education than the previous year.

During Wednesday’s last-minute meeting, Region One Superintendent Melony Brady-Shanley and Sharon Center School Principal Carol Tomkalski presented the BOE with four reduction options that would achieve the cut the BOF requested. Ultimately, the Board opted to remove the amount from the salaries line of the budget, which, Brady-Shanley explained, does not necessarily mean the money will be drawn from employee wages.

“None of these options are fabulous,” she said, but she noted that reducing the salary line allows the BOE some flexibility even after the budget is voted on by the town.

“It gives us the gift of time,” Brady-Shanley said, describing the reduction as a “placeholder” solution.

She explained that even after the town approves budget bottom lines, the BOE has until June 30 to reallocate funds internally. Further, the $2,461,304 salaries line is one of the few areas large enough to absorb a $70,000 cut, she said.

Other options on the table were the elimination of the math interventionist position, or the removal of the building substitute and library paraeducator roles. Tomkalski, who presented these options to the Board, said that both choices would directly impact student learning and school operations.

“Our building sub is involved every day,” she said, and the library paraeducator plays a big role in the student experience both in the library and in the cafeteria, she added. That employee also supports the Early Kindergarten program, she continued.

An additional option to eliminate the school’s cafeteria was also considered. The plan would cut all in-house food services and staff, instead feeding students via meals prepared at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School and delivered daily to the school. Cornwall Central School and the Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village currently have similar systems in place.

Several BOE members asked about the logistics of the plan, and Brady-Shanley affirmed that it has been successful at both schools. She noted that sacrificing the cafeteria experience may have impacts on the sense of community at the school, but that “we will get food” to the students.

Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick, speaking via Zoom, said EdAdvance, northwest Connecticut’s Regional Education Service Center and Region One’s food service provider, has indicated the off-site option would work for Sharon Center School.

“The only thing unaccounted for in this scenario is the mileage,” he said, but noted that since the option would reduce the budget by over $71,000, the BOE would have to put approximately $1,700 back into the budget, which could at least partially account for the estimated $3,500-$4,000 driving costs.

BOE Chair Philip O’Reilly pointed out that choosing to reduce the salaries section would leave the cafeteria option open since internal budget transfers are allowed. The final motion, made by member Konrad Kruger, opted to trim the salary lines with the stipulation that the reduction could be transferred to eliminate on-site cafeteria services.

Some members of the BOE were disturbed by the mandatory last-minute reduction. “I’m very troubled by this process,” said Terry Vance, who helmed the BOE’s budget subcommittee. “I don’t feel comfortable at all.”

Peter Birnbaum said that “messing around with [the budget] at this time is very, very unproductive,” noting that being forced to cut services over a proposed 1.67%increase could jeopardize forward momentum for the school.

“All we do is risk progress,” he said.

Sharon Center School is currently enrolled with 94 students, eight of whom pay out-of-district tuition. Those numbers are expected to rise next year to 106 total students from early kindergarten to eighth grade, with 14 tuition students.

The BOE and municipal budgets will both go before a public hearing on April 24 before they are sent to a town vote on May 8.