GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS 290 Greenwich Avenue Greenwich, Connecticut 06830 Greenwichschools.Org This Meritorious Budget Award Is Presented To
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GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS 290 Greenwich Avenue Greenwich, Connecticut 06830 greenwichschools.org This Meritorious Budget Award is presented to GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS for excellence in the preparation and issuance of its budget for the Fiscal Year 2019–2020. The budget adheres to the principles and standards of ASBO International’s Meritorious Budget Award criteria. Thomas E. Wohlleber, CSRM David J. Lewis President Executive Director Page intentionally left blank TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Executive Summary _______________________________________________________ 1 Organizational Town of Greenwich, Connecticut ____________________________________________ 15 Governance and the Town Charter __________________________________________ 16 Greenwich Public School District Overview ____________________________________ 18 Greenwich Public School District Schools _____________________________________ 19 Board of Education Members ______________________________________________ 20 Cabinet Members ________________________________________________________ 21 Office of the Superintendent _______________________________________________ 22 Principal Assignments ____________________________________________________ 23 Mission and Vision _______________________________________________________ 25 Budget Development _____________________________________________________ 26 Board of Education Budget Procedures_______________________________________ 30 Budget Timeline _________________________________________________________ 33 Financial Accounting Structure _____________________________________________ 34 Budget Administration and Financial Management ______________________________ 39 Financial Financials – All Funds _____________________________________________________ 42 General Fund - Revenue Detail _____________________________________________ 44 General Fund – Expense Detail, by Functional Area _____________________________ 45 General Fund – Expense Summary, by Location and Program _____________________ 47 General Fund – Expense Detail, by Location and Program ________________________ 49 Cos Cob School _______________________________________________________ 50 International School at Dundee ____________________________________________ 51 Glenville School ________________________________________________________ 52 Hamilton Avenue School _________________________________________________ 53 Julian Curtiss School ____________________________________________________ 54 New Lebanon School ___________________________________________________ 55 North Mianus School ____________________________________________________ 56 North Street School _____________________________________________________ 57 Old Greenwich School ___________________________________________________ 58 Parkway School ________________________________________________________ 59 Riverside School _______________________________________________________ 60 Central Middle School ___________________________________________________ 61 Eastern Middle School __________________________________________________ 62 Western Middle School __________________________________________________ 63 Greenwich High School __________________________________________________ 64 Central Office – By Program ______________________________________________ 66 General Fund – Significant Expenditure Categories _____________________________ 72 General Fund – Budget Development Challenges _______________________________ 81 Capital Fund – Project Detail _______________________________________________ 84 Capital Fund – Significant Capital Projects____________________________________ 101 Grants Fund – Overview __________________________________________________ 109 Grants Fund – Project Detail _______________________________________________ 111 School Lunch Fund _____________________________________________________ 112 Informational Student Achievement ____________________________________________________ 119 Enrollment ____________________________________________________________ 124 Methodology Used to Project Enrollment ___________________________________ 124 District 2020-2021 Projected Enrollment Data _______________________________ 125 District 2019-2020 Current Enrollment Data _________________________________ 126 Staffing Reports ________________________________________________________ 127 District Resource Allocation Model ________________________________________ 128 Staffing Detail - FTE by Bargaining Unit 2020-2021 ___________________________ 131 Staffing Detail – Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Positions _________________________ 132 Supplemental Funds ____________________________________________________ 139 For Students with Low Propensity 2019-2020 _______________________________ 139 Per Pupil Allocation _____________________________________________________ 140 Schools Supplies and Services 2020-2021 _________________________________ 140 School Building Information _______________________________________________ 141 Munis Schedules by Function and Object Code _______________________________ 142 Glossary, Definitions and Data Sources _____________________________________ 157 Abbreviations and Acronyms ______________________________________________ 162 Executive Summary 1 Executive Summary Mr. Peter D. Bernstein Chair, Greenwich Board of Education January 17, 2020 To the Members of the Board of Estimate and Taxation: 2020-2021 Operating Budget The Board of Education’s proposed 2020-2021 Operating Budget of $166,631,476 represents a 2.0% increase over the current year’s budget, which adheres to the 2.0% Guidelines shared by the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET). While reviewing the proposed budget it is important to note that salaries are the most significant portion of the District’s budget. Full time salaries account for approximately 80% of the expense budget, excluding benefits which are carried under the Town of Greenwich budget. Most employees are part of collective bargaining units that provide for annual contractual salary increases. For the FY20-21 school year, contractual salary increases will add approximately $2.4 million to the FY19-20 budget and accounts for 63% of the district’s year-over-year increase. In order to meet the BET Guideline, reductions to the operating budget were made, in coordination with Program Snapshots, to assist with areas of prioritization. Reductions or cost avoidance, further detailed below, total close to $1M: Reduction or Cost Avoidance: 1. Preschool staffing ratio adjustment: Special Education Preschool continues to grow at a fast pace. Three new sections were added from January 2019 through June 2019 which were not originally budgeted for in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Applying a new 2 ratio methodology allows GPS to slow the preschool section growth rate and reduce from 14 sections to 13 sections for 2020-2021, without impacting the quality and services of the program. Additionally, although the trend data would indicate an increasing number of preschool children with disabilities, if we assume that we begin the 2020-2021 school year with the number of children we expect to end with this year (78) and increase the ratio to 6 children with disabilities in each class, we would begin the year with 13 classes with 1-2 seats in each class for incoming 3 year olds (13-26 additional children, consistent with the lower end of the trend). a. Current ratio 10:5, New Ratio 9:6 (Peer:PPT) b. Cost Avoidance: 1 teacher and 2.7 professional assistants, app. $200,000 2. Freezing two Central Office positions: Central Office staffing is under review, and as a result there are two positions which are currently open in the budget book but are frozen for 2020-2021 and will not be filled to allow an opportunity to assess efficiencies. The positions are: Assistant Director of Human Resources ($174,121) and one administrative support position ($81,000). 3. Eliminating one bus through efficiencies: We annually review our routing and the elimination of one bus through efficiencies was identified during the budget review process. 4. Reducing funds allotted to HR settlements: Looked at three-year averages and removed cost from this line item while continuing to fund it appropriately ($40,000). 5. Reducing funds allotted for staff travel and Extended School Year: Finding efficiencies in both of these line items to meet 2.0% guidelines ($20,000 each). 6. Removing cost from Staffing and Materials: Removed cost associated with staffing related to a long-term substitute and an administrative assistant position at the high school, totaling $248,000, and removing 5% of student- allocated materials cost, totaling $142,688. While our collective investment, financially and instructionally, has led to positive student outcomes, there is a growing concern from staff that a 2% year over year increase in the budget, which is below the bargaining contracts’ percentage increase, is constraining areas of the budget necessary for improving student experiences, including Professional Development for our staff. As we discussed last year, cuts to Professional Development and Curriculum Development are not sustainable in the long term. Both are levers to increased student achievement and this budget does not restore funding to the pre-cut levels. 3 Additional staff concerns include, increases in class sizes at GHS, including 161 sections that are over 25 students (51 of which are 27 students or more). Additionally, based on new State mandated requirements, high school students now need two more full-year credits