South Burlington voters will return to the polls Aug. 11 to consider a third school budget proposal after voting down two previous proposals.
The school board is now proposing a $52.5 million budget, a $785,714 increase over last year’s budget. This represents a 1.9% tax increase.
In March, voters overwhelmingly rejected a $209 million bond to rebuild the city’s middle and high school, and rejected the district’s initial $55.8 million budget proposal by a margin of 57% to 43%. That budget would have led to an estimated 11.2% tax increase.
The board then proposed a $53.7 million budget, which voters rejected by an even larger margin of 64.5% voting no to 35.5% voting yes in May.
Bridget Burkhardt, the school board’s clerk, said the cuts include program and operation costs, along with a reduction in new expenses proposed in the March budget.
“We basically increased operational risk and impacted student experience negatively to make the cuts that the community is demanding,” she said. “That’s where we are.”
Burkhardt said the district has cut athletics and student activity offerings, some Advanced Placement and other class offerings, math and literacy coaching and social and emotional support, among other initiatives.
The district has cut positions in human resources, transportation, IT, alumni development, facilities and security. The district also reduced professional development costs.
Administrators and non-union support staff have taken a salary freeze and the district has cut the number of new teachers it planned to hire.
Since March, the district has trimmed about $3.3 million from its proposed budget. Increasing health care costs, repayment of fiscal year 2019 debt, increasing enrollment, demand for services and aging buildings all put pressure on the budget, according to the district.
Burkhardt said the board believes that it has done everything possible to cut the budget, and noted the increase over the previous year is lower than the percentage growth of health care costs for the district.
“I think we’ve made cuts that are going to impact us for years,” she said. “It’s basically going to be a rebuild.”
The vote, like the first two, is expected to face opposition from some in the community.
Residents both in support and opposition to the budget have written letters to the Other Paper. Scott Miller, argued that the proposed increase was still too high. He wrote that he would be voting no for the third time.
“Vermont is in the middle of a pandemic and now is not the time to ask the voters for a budget and a tax increase,” he wrote. “The school board is way out of touch with the people in this city. I urge the rest of the voters in this city to send the school board a message and vote this budget down – a 1.9 % tax increase is still far too much.
Kathie Borrazzo wrote that the cuts already imposed in the new budget would harm the educational experience of students.
“If the current budget doesn’t pass, even more cuts will be made,” she wrote. “The list of these reductions is startling and our children will bear the brunt of this decision.”
“As I heard someone say recently, our young South Burlington residents will be the collateral damage of a ‘No’ vote,” she wrote.
