WINDHAM — The School Board is poised to propose a 3.4 percent increase for next year's school operating budget. The increase is attributable, in part, to the addition of a class at Windham High School.
The four board members at the meeting Tuesday supported the $40 million budget for 2010-11.
School Board member Daphne Kenyon said the panel would likely have voted for the proposed budget had the chairman been present, but he was out of town and the board decided to delay the vote.
The tax impact of the increase would be 16 cents per $1,000 of property valuation if voters approve the spending in March, Kenyon said.
But the tax impact could be higher, depending on what warrant articles pass at the deliberative session, board vice chairman Mike Hatem said.
Kenyon and board member Jeff Bostic said the proposal was scaled back from an original proposed increase of about 6 percent.
New spending in the budget includes a guidance position — serving both Golden Brook Elementary School and Center School — and a module at Windham Middle School to reduce class sizes.
Discretionary items, including these, account for 0.9 percent of the overall increase.
Contractual expenses, such as teacher salaries and health insurance costs, account for 1.3 percent of the budget increase.
Enrollment increases, including a larger kindergarten population and an additional class at the high school, as well as a tuition hike for Windham seniors who will attend Salem High School, account for 1.2 percent of the increase, Kenyon said.
The percentage increase in enrollment is on a par with the percentage increase in spending, she said.
"The enrollment increase is a projected 3.4 or 3.5 percent, so we feel we are holding the line on the budget," Kenyon said.
Bostic said the board has been most concerned about preserving the quality of education in the district, but also about being as fiscally responsible as possible.
"We are aware of the burden on taxpayers," Bostic said.
Windham High School opened this fall with freshmen and sophomore classes. Next year, it will have three classes and four the following year.
The proposed budget will be outlined at a public hearing in January.
Last March, voters defeated the $40.5 million operating budget for 2009-10, 1,438-1,596. The district is operating under a default budget of $39.8 million.
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