Thursday, January 23, 2020
www.berlincitizen.com
Volume 22, Number 47
Process of crafting school, town budgets begins By Devin Leith-Yessian The Citizen
Finance and Town Council weigh an $8.5 million capital plan for the municipal budget.
The Board of Education is evaluating a budget proposal During his presentation, Suthat calls for a nearly $2.9 perintendent of Schools Brimillion increase in school spending, while the Board of an Benigni said rising
salaries and benefits make up most of the increase.
Board of Education President Richard Aroian said he hopes residents can look “Of that 6.47 percent (inpast the “sticker shock” and crease), just to meet contracconsider some of the driving tual obligations we're lookfactors, including around ing at 2.3 percent increase," $640,000 in repairs and techhe said. nology moved to the board’s operating budget.
passed by the town’s Capital Committee. The plan will be revised by Town Manager Arosha Jayawickrema before it goes before the Board of Finance and council. The capital committee is primarily made up of municipal department heads.
The district’s budget for contracted services would also increase nearly $500,000, or 28 percent, to accommodate the Effective School Solutions program, which provides mental health specialists for students chronically absent from class.
Around $2.2 million of the plan would be paid for through the town’s general fund, with the committee having trimmed out $7 million in department requests by finding alternative funding sources or pushing projects out into the future. The remaining $6 million would be paid for through a mix of surplus funds, bonding and grants.
Mary Ellen Maloney has been chosen by the Berlin Board of Education to fill a seat on the nine-member body that was left vacant after not enough candidates filed to run in the 2018 municipal election. Devin Leith-Yessian, The Citizen
Board of Education seat filled By Devin Leith-Yessian The Citizen
The Board of Education unanimously voted for Mary Ellen Maloney to fill the vacant seat left after not enough candidates successfully petitioned to run last year. Though this is her first time on the board, Maloney said she’s long been active in the
community around the Berlin school system, where her three children were enrolled until her twins graduated last year. “A lot of people would think I'm crazy, but I did enjoy the Board of Education meetings whenever I could go,” the BOE’s newest member said. The board appointed Maloney during its Jan. 13 meet-
ing, elevating her to the seat left vacant when former board member Jake Fisher decided not to run for reelection last year. Maloney will fill the vacancy until the November 2020 elections, when the seat will be back up for re-election for a candidate to fill the remainder of the three-year term, which ends in 2022.
A handful of positions that were cut in previous budgets would also be reinstated under Benigni’s proposal – three teaching positions, seven paraprofessionals and a technology integration specialist. Town weighing ramp up in capital funding The town’s elected officials will also likely be faced with evaluating a substantially larger capital spending request than has been passed in recent years.
Finance Director Kevin Delaney presented the Town Council with a nearly $8.2 See Maloney, A6 million capital plan that was
Over half of the funding under the proposal would come from approximately $4.7 million of town bonding, which would be used for a $2.5 million overhaul of much of the heating and air conditioning system at Willard Elementary School. A total of $1.4 million will be used to replace Spruce Brook Bridge and $800,000 will go to purchase a new pumper engine for the South Kensington Fire Department. See Budgets, A8
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