Superintendent David Title discusses his 2012-13 budget plan with chair Pamela Iacono and the Fairfield Board of Education on Tuesday.

Photo Credit: Greg Canuel

Superintendent David Title asked for a total increase of about $3.8 million in funding for next year.

Photo Credit: Greg Canuel (file)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Superintendent of Schools David Title got his wish Tuesday night, at least as far as the Board of Education was concerned. The school board approved his proposed 2012-13 budget without any changes.

Fairfield’s schools will ask the rest of the town’s governing bodies for nearly $149.5 million for next year. That amount is a 2.6 percent increase, or nearly $3.8 million more, over what was received in 2011-12.

“This budget has some improvements in it, has some initiatives in it and at the same time I think is very fiscally responsible,” Title said in his first pitch to the board earlier this month.

Most of the new money would go to teacher’s salaries and benefits. The teacher union’s contract, approved last month, grants Fairfield’s faculty a 2 percent increase in pay next year. Administrators will also get a 1.5 percent raise in 2012-13.

The Board of Education’s plan also accounts for hiring about 26 new teachers. Some of the new hires will go toward expanding the math and science improvement program now at the elementary schools into the middle schools. Other new teachers will come in to deal with higher enrollment. About 100 more students are expected next year.

The district will also change how elementary schools handle special education staffing. Each elementary school will get another full-time teacher for the program next year. In exchange, Fairfield will eliminate 29 paraprofessional positions.

The Board of Education also approved Title’s plans for major renovations without a change. The school board will ask for funding to replace its aging oil tanks and boilers, repair the façade and improve traffic flow at Tomlinson, and finish repairs at Jennings School's bathrooms. The district will also replace all of Osborn Hill School’s windows with more efficient models if the town boards approve all the requests.

The school board’s request is just the first step in the approval process. The Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance will vote on the school system’s funding along with the rest of the town’s spending in March. Then the Representative Town Meeting will have the final say in early May.

For example, the Board of Education asked for a total of about $148 million last year. But the Board of Selectmen reduced that amount by $2 million, followed by an extra cut of $800,000 from the RTM. A townwide vote was held to overturn the RTM’s decision, but in the end Fairfield’s schools cut back on its foreign language programs after the referendum failed.

Title decided not to include anything cut from last year’s plan in his 2012-13 budget. Board member Sue Brand suggested at least restoring Spanish classes at the sixth-grade level to full time. But the board voted against that change, 5-4, despite support for the change from parent Suzanne Miska.

“I have to say, I’m a little disappointed in the budget,” Miska said before the vote. “I’m concerned that this budget appeals to two sides of the spectrum — special needs and the gifted program. And I’m concerned that the rest of the population is not getting what they need out of our budget.”