Windsor Locks Finance Board to Work on Budget

To be ready for the April 3rd meeting with school and town officials, the Windsor Locks finance board has some final touches that it must put on its version of the proposed 2012-13 municipal budget.

After the board met last week, town Finance Director Barbara Bertrand said finance officials were waiting for some revenues figures from the state before making any final decisions.

The current proposal is a $15.4 million budget from the town and a $28.79 million budget from the Board of Education.

The proposed education budget is a 5.25 percent increase. Superintendent of Schools Wayne Sweeney said that over the last three years the Board of Education has received a combined 2.23 percent increase, with 1.48 percent in 2010-11, no increase in 2009-10 and .75 percent in 2008-09.

“We need to engage and empower our kids so they can perform at levels that they have never before challenged to,” Sweeney said earlier this month. “We have an ever-changing global society and it is changing much faster than our school systems.”

The proposed budget includes two new initiatives Sweeney outlined at a presentation before the Board of Finance on March 14. One is an extended day/extended year program for students who need additional learning time, and the second is to expand opportunities for high school students to earn college credits.

He said if the budget proposal is reduced the initiatives would not be funded and teaching positions also could be in jeopardy.

The finance board will discuss the school, and the town spending proposals on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

The next step will be a meeting on April 3, where the finance board will hear appeals from selectmen and school board members about changes to the budget proposals.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 26 at Windsor Locks High School at 7 p.m., followed by the town meeting on May 15.