Glastonbury Town Council Reviewing Proposed School Budget on March 5

The Glastonbury town council will be reviewing the proposed $94.2 million school budget during their March 5 meeting.

The $94.2 million approved budget represents a 3.7 percent increase over the current year’s $90.8 million budget. The superintendent had originally proposed a $94.8 million budget, which would have represented a 4.33 percent increase over the current year.

During their January meeting, the Board of Education cut $579,000 from Bookman’s proposed budget. Some of the major reductions included:

• $194,000 for two new school buses
• $130,000 from health insurance
• $100,000 from special education
• $100,000 from programs and staff development

The board voted 6-1 in favor of that budget, with James R. Zeller the sole dissenting vote.

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“The board’s job is to provide superior education at the lowest cost,” Zeller said.

Zeller said he voted against the budget because he believed it was too high considering the current state of the economy. He suggested that the board reduce the request and look for savings later.

The rest of the board said that the new budget would meet the educational needs of the town’s students, but also tried to take into account the community’s fiscal necessities.

“This is a very workable solution that can be supported by most of the town,” board Vice Chairman Jeremy Grieveson said. Grieveson is also the chairman of the budget committee.

“This budget is reasonable and responsible and reflects a lot of hard work,” board Chairwoman Susan Karp said.

The budget will now go to a town meeting, then the board of finance and the town council for review and approval.

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