Schools

School District Seeks $1.3 Million Funding Increase in 2013

The Joint Finance Committee will hold an informational meeting for the public on Thursday evening.

The will present the proposed 2013 district budget to the Joint Finance Committee meeting this week. It will be reviewed publicly on Thursday at .

The district has requested a four percent increase from the approved fiscal year 2012 budget, which by law, is the maximum allowed increase. The proposed budget is likely to face resistance from the towns of Bristol and Warren.

According to figures provided in the school district's budget request, the towns of Bristol and Warren are being asked to contribute approximately $1.3 million more than their 2011 contributions.

Find out what's happening in Bristol-Warrenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If the district budget is approved as is by the Joint Finance Committee, the Town of Warren would be responsible for providing the district with just over $12.3 million (a 5.32 percent increase over the FY12 contribution). The town of Bristol, which is responsible for nearly double the student enrollment of Warren, would be expected to contribute just over $21.5 million to the school department (a 3.26 percent increase over the FY12 contribution).

According to state law, towns are required to contribute, at minimum, the same amount of money as the previous fiscal year and cannot contribute more than four percent. With that fact known, the Warren Town Council has already made a motion to level fund the district budget in hopes that the schools can make up for the rest of the request by reappropriating surplus money from overfunding from years past. The Bristol Town Council has yet to begin its budget session and has yet to make a motion regarding the contribution toward the school budget.

Find out what's happening in Bristol-Warrenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Joint Finance Committee will host an informational meeting for the public at at 7 p.m. on Thursday. On Tuesday, March 27, the Joint Finance Committee will host a meeting at at 7 p.m. to discuss the proposed budget, hear public comment and make a final decision on how much each town will contribute to the Bristol Warren Regional School District.


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