Impact of employee benefits on FY2023-24 BoE Budget

In the Board’s continuing effort to be as transparent as possible through this budget process, we are sharing some of the finer points involving employee benefits and how they both impact, and are impacted by our FY2023-24 budget situation.

First, it is important to note that the district’s overall budget is not where it was on trajectory to be after receiving no increase to the budget in FY22. As a result of this decision and at the direction of the city, the BoE was asked to fund the shortfall of its budget needs with these federal grant funds. 

During a series of meetings with the Common Council and the Board of Estimate and Taxation in April and May 2021, the BoE repeatedly cautioned against this short-term strategy and warned that this would create a “fiscal cliff” in the near future.

These calls were not heeded, and the near future is now today. Now that these funds have expired, the BoE has again submitted a proposal to shift the allocation of employee benefits that were funded by ESSER Grant dollars received from the federal government. The FY23 Budget request included a proposal to phase in the impact of the loss of the federal grant revenues but that proposal was not approved by the City.

Second, with those funds, which were needed to offset expenses brought on by the pandemic, we funded the salaries and benefits of existing school counselors and school social workers. These items were identified as ones that would fit the grant parameters while also balancing the budget when the Board received flat funding most of these school counselor and social worker positions in this category were pre-existing conditions, with a few exceptions. The majority were not new.

Our CFO Lunda Asmani provides a more visual explanation of the impact of employee benefits on the FY2023-24 BoE budget in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyCb3BGqXog

The BoE did add new positions during the past two budgets, which included existing teachers currently engaged in these new roles. The new positions consisted of 16 math and 15 reading/writing improvement teachers which were completely aligned with the spirit of ESSER funding. We believe that allocating these funds to these positions also resulted in mitigating learning loss. We maintain that the best way to do this is through internal staffing support to students, not outsourced services or one-time costs. These staffing positions accomplished both. Although the pandemic is over, the need for these positions continues.

As a result of the loss of that ESSER funding, that money for these integral members of our team has to come from the local side of our budget. This is one of the most integral drivers for our budgetary ask of a 12.7% increase. In addition to the 12% projected increase in health insurance, these positions that are now being shifted from the grant budget to the local budget also contribute to additional increases in benefits costs.

In summary, our budgetary ask is not to fund a bevy of new positions. We are not asking to launch a new team. We are asking that we are provided just a bit of flexibility so that we may show that we value those professionals that valued our children’s progress, safety and peace of mind during one of the most uncertain times during any of our lives.

To learn more about the NPS FY2023-24 budget, we encourage everyone to visit our budget website at https://norwalkps.org/540240_3?articleID=121888