Board of Education Votes Unanimously in Favor of $2.1 Million Budget Increase

The Board of Education unanimously voted in favor of reducing its initial budget proposal figure to $47,945,179, but it is still an increase from last year’s budget.

Interim Superintendent Jody Goeler oversaw his last board meeting Tuesday in preparation for Gary Mala's start as Avon superintendent in March. Goeler initially proposed $48,183,038.68 for the school board budget. The board ultimately cut out a $219,859 increase in outplacement tuition and $18,000 to pay for an athletic trainer at Avon High School.

“I’m very satisfied,” Goeler said of the modified budget proposal. “The board did a great job of considering needs and mad a fiscally responsible decision that supports [the district’s] education goals.”

The budget figure is a 2,024,147 increase over last year and a 4.41 increase, whereas the original proposal would have yielded a $2,262,016 increase, or 4.93 percent.

The money cut for the athletic trainer will be covered by pay-to-play funds, Peggy Roell, board chair, said after the meeting, which is the same system the board used last year.

Board member William Stokesbury opposed the $55,749 for a district English coordinator, but his motion to remove it from the fiscal year 2011-2012 budget proposal and reduce the budget even further was not seconded.

“We hear from the town manager that Avon is not doing so bad,” Stokesbury said, “but I am reluctant to move forward with new initiatives for some positions…. I recommend a postponement of one year.”

Roell was as pleased as Goeler with the proposed budget.

“It is a very good budget and very responsible,” she said.

The Board of Education will submit its approved budget to the Town Council. Town Manager Brandon Robertson will publicly release the town budget proposal at a budget workshop in Town Hall Saturday, Feb. 12 at 8 a.m. The public is welcome to attend. Once the Town Council approves the budget proposals, they will be submitted to the Board of Finance for review.

Editor's Note: This article was revised at 9:13 a.m. Patch had originally published that the original proposed budget increase was 4.43 percent, but it was actually 4.93 percent. This error has been corrected.