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New Milford School District board meeting, Jan 13, 2026

1 h 59 min

Budget cuts and layoffs ▶ 0:22Enrollment ▶ 0:22Reading and test scores ▶ 36:58

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 59 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Proposed New Milford school budget for 2026⁠-⁠27 carries 3.20% increase 0:22

  • A district staff member presented the superintendent's proposed budget, which carries a 3.20% increase over the current budget, compared with fixed costs that alone would mean a 4.68% increase. 0:22
  • K-5 administrators and a staff member for general administration later presented budgets, and one board member expressed worry about reducing out-of-district tuition and out-of-district transportation. 29:44
  • No votes were taken, and the meeting was recessed until the next day. 1:58:18

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Item by item (13)
  1. Call to order 0:00
    • The meeting was called to order at 6:30 and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. 0:00
  2. Superintendent's proposed budget overview 0:22
    • A district staff member said fixed costs, including contractual salary increases and a 13% health insurance increase, total $3.5 million, or a 4.68% increase, while the proposed budget carries a 3.20% increase. 0:22
    • The staff member said total enrollment of 3,434 is projected to drop to 3,339, and listed requests left out of the budget, including kindergarten paraprofessionals. 0:22
  3. Questions on out-of-district placements 29:44
    • One board member said there was some worry about reducing out-of-district tuition and transportation because the district cannot necessarily control it. 29:44
    • A staff member said the budget builds in 4 placeholders, and another staff member said the reduction reflects 7 fewer actual placements and one fewer placeholder. 30:21
    • A staff member said the placeholder amounts to roughly $100,000 in tuition and $30,000 in transportation. 32:16
  4. Questions on staffing and contracts 32:54
    • A staff member said no paraprofessionals, custodians, secretaries or administrators are being reduced. 33:23
    • A speaker asked for a breakdown by school of special education teachers and paraprofessionals. 34:36
    • A staff member said negotiations with custodians and maintainers begin in the spring, with secretaries and nurses next year. 36:13
  5. Elementary school presentations 36:58
    • Administrators said general education teachers would go from 18 to 16 at Hill and Plain and from 21 to 19 at Northville. 41:22
    • An administrator said one school was planning for 36 general education teachers, with class sizes between 21 and 23 in each grade. 44:03
    • The administrators showed a video of literacy and math instruction in their schools. 45:31
  6. Questions on elementary class sizes 1:03:01
    • Joseph Failla asked Hill and Plain and Northville administrators for their opinions on class sizes. 1:06:29
    • An administrator said teachers have seen a benefit from smaller class sizes. 1:06:35
    • Administrators described the need for kindergarten paraprofessionals, a request that a staff member said had come up a second year in a row. 1:10:33
  7. General administration budget 1:12:47
    • A finance staff member said the department's proposed budget represents an increase of 24.97%, with legal fees dropping by $85,000. 1:13:35
    • Asked about the difference between two supply lines, a staff member said there was no difference and that they were being consolidated. 1:17:20
  8. Employee benefits and health insurance 1:18:59
    • The finance staff member said benefits represent an increase of 9.17%, and that a 3-year rate lock on disability insurance has expired. 1:18:59
    • The staff member said the budget uses a 13% health insurance increase, with rates not finalized until March. 1:23:05
    • A speaker said other districts are seeing increases of 18, 19 and 20% and asked to be told of any change before budget adoption. 1:27:15
  9. Fiscal services budget 1:31:02
    • The finance staff member said the fiscal services budget represents a 3.59% increase. 1:31:02
    • The staff member confirmed audit services are split 50/50 with the town. 1:32:58
  10. Transportation budget 1:33:28
    • The finance staff member said the busing contract cost is reduced by cutting 1 bus, about $83,000, and by $84,198 in runs now handled by other providers. 1:33:28
    • Joseph Failla asked about the longest bus route, and a staff member said some reach about 52 minutes. 1:36:37
    • Tammy McInerney asked whether All-Star had resumed athletic runs, and staff members said some, not all. 1:40:35
  11. Revenue and parking fees 1:41:29
    • The finance staff member said expected Medicaid reimbursement is being increased and the parking permit line keeps 278 spaces at $75 each. 1:42:07
    • A staff member said the total proposed budget is $78,773,658. 1:46:13
    • A speaker called the student parking fee a tax on students, and another speaker said it would be good to see the fee come down to zero. 1:46:56
  12. Public comment 1:49:55
    • Speakers at public comment spoke about the benefits of small class sizes in the primary grades, citing research and classroom experience. 1:51:08
  13. Recess 1:58:12
    • The meeting was recessed until the next day at the same time and place. 1:58:18

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “New Milford Public Schools, BOE Budget Meeting 1 - 1/13/2026”