New Canaan BOF suggests $1.5M less than BOE asks for

The Board of Finance proposed an increase in the Board of Education's budget of $3.3 million, roughly $1.5 million less than what the BOE had originally asked for.

The BOF has no jurisdiction over line item cuts: it can only approve a gross budget amount, from which the Board of Education may mold its own line items to.

Nevertheless, the BOF made some recommendations as to where it felt the money could be most easily taken from in order to make the budget work with the least effect on classroom education. It decided it could save $1 million by changing the way in which health care is managed, with the town taking on more risk. The board recommended removing $150,000 of approximately $230,000 in spending on new technology purchases, $150,000 from deferring the hiring of new personnel, $100,000 in the turnover of hiring two new young teachers to replace more senior, well-paid ones who were retiring, and an additional $100,000 in expenditures to be decided on by the BOE with no recommendation from the BOF.

twoods@bcnnew.com; 203-972-4413; @Woods_NCNews