Dorothy Black Nathan DiSalvo
Noah Charpentier Olivia Handy
Justin Coe Jason Jagoda
Hallee Corley Veronica Kandro
Thomas Currier Nathan Lavoy
Grace Darby Justin Renk
Lila Deloronde Bryce Wiekrykas
Superintendent of Schools |
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Portland Band Preparing for the BIG E Parade
Dorothy Black Nathan DiSalvo Noah Charpentier Olivia Handy Justin Coe Jason Jagoda Hallee Corley Veronica Kandro Thomas Currier Nathan Lavoy Grace Darby Justin Renk Lila Deloronde Bryce Wiekrykas
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A busy month of January has come to a close. Most importantly, the Board of Education has unanimously adopted my recommended 4.46 % increase budget for the 2020-2021 school year. Members spent multiple meetings combing over the details while posing many probing questions as they deliberated together. As defined in Connecticut General Statute 10-222, this proposed education budget represents an “itemized estimate of expenses” for operating our schools in the coming year. This is the largest request to the town during my six-year tenure as your superintendent of schools, but clearly the most consequential. Over five year, our Town-approved budgets are as list below:
As we move into a new decade of teaching and learning in our school district, and as we transition to a new superintendent of schools, this budget sustains previous critical priorities including funding for ongoing curricular updates in all teaching and learning areas and Chrome book replacements for our highly successful one-to one technology initiative in grades five through twelve. Perhaps more importantly, this budget also represents an investment in enhanced programming for our students with special education needs, including the establishment of district-based therapeutic programming for students with severe behavioral and social/emotional needs at the elementary level. As promised, this budget restores both the grade five teaching position at Brownstone Intermediate School and the sixth section of both kindergarten and grade one at Valley View School. As you recall, these positions were eliminated as we faced budget challenges in our previous two budget cycles. This budget introduces funding for a .5FTE English Language Learner (ELL) teacher in an effort to provide program enhancements and explicit instruction for our expanding population of children whose primary language is other than English. In addition, I am budgeting for much-needed paraprofessionals support at all our schools for our growing population of students who require more one-to one academic and behavioral support as identified in their IEPs and to address the specialized needs of our students attending one of our newer district special education programs. While we have reduced our technology personnel in the current FY 19-20 budget, this proposed budget continues our investment in technology and addresses the recommendations outlined in our technology plan and technology replacement cycle approved by the Board of Education last year. More specifically, we are continuing our efforts to replace our long-outdated servers and WIFI access points at both Brownstone Intermediate and Gildersleeve School and we are replacing desktop computers in our computer labs for secondary programming that require such devices. As in the past, we will continue to budget for necessary maintenance projects in all our schools such as ongoing HVAC repairs and numerous maintenance and service contracts. More significantly, this budget contains funding for a comprehensive facilities and assessment report as endorsed by the Board at our December meeting. As I complete my tenure as your Superintendent of Schools in June of 2020 and now complete my final budget process, I will continue to request funding initiatives that are required by the Connecticut State Department of Education. Additionally, I will strive to fund the outstanding programs currently in place throughout our schools. Finally, as I have throughout my duration in Portland, I will continue my long-standing effort to look to the future with an eye on investing in programming for students with exceptional needs that require specialized programming and services. Meeting these growing needs must remain a priority! |
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May 2020
AuthorSuperintendent Philip O'Reilly invites parents, students, and community members to comment. Categories |