OLD LYME – Voters in Lyme and Old Lyme will be asked to weigh the implications of a relatively steep increase in education spending now that the Region 18 Board of Education’s proposed $39.7 million budget is on its way to voters. 

The district school board on Monday voted unanimously to set a May 5 district budget meeting prior to the May 6 referendum. The vote followed a 10 minute public hearing with a presentation from Superintendent of Schools Ian Neviaser during which no residents spoke. 

The public silence was a departure from previous meetings that drew a cacophony of concern from members of the school community regarding the cut of a music teacher at Mile Creek School that they said would affect music department staffing at all levels.

The proposed budget represents an increase of $2.7 million, or 7.39%, over the current spending plan.

District budget documents show that Old Lyme would be responsible for $31.51 million of the budget, while Lyme would pay $6.96 million. Both towns are billed by the regional school district based on enrollment.

That’s a proposed increase in Old Lyme of $1.99 million, or 6.7%, and in Lyme of $299,504, or 4.5%.

The figure comes from calculating the average number of students over the course of the current school year based on enrollment data from Oct. 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025. 

Neviaser in a phone interview this week attributed the bulk of the proposed budget increase to debt that is coming due on the extensive renovation project in all the district’s schools except Lyme-Old Lyme High School. 

The project involves heating and ventilation system work in the four buildings, plus the addition of new classrooms at Mile Creek School. Voters in late 2022 authorized spending up to $57.5 million on the project.

Of the proposed budget’s $2.7 million increase, $1.8 million is attributable to debt payments on the renovation project. 

“What I want to remind people is, yes, we have a 7.39% increase, but 4.7% of that is in debt service alone. So the operating budget is really only increasing 2.69%, which is exceptionally low if you look at surrounding districts,” he said. 

Proposed school board increases in shoreline districts range from 2.5% in Madison to 6.72% in East Lyme. But the East Lyme Board of Finance last week slashed that town’s proposed $4 million education increase by $1.5 million, leaving it up to the school board – as required by state statute – to figure out where the cuts will come from. 

In the Lyme-Old Lyme schools’ budget proposal, special education spending is up $726,721 over the current year, employee benefits are up $448,485, salaries for certified staff members are up $278,654 and transportation costs are up $164,234.

Neviaser said the increase in special education costs is driven by more students who need to be placed in programs outside the district to meet their needs. There are four students requiring outplacements in the coming year compared to one student when the current budget was approved. 

There are currently 180 kindergarten through grade 12 students with disabilities in the district compared to 162 in 2020-21, according to budget documents. 

The proposed budget includes maintenance and improvements to district facilities totaling $359,200 for a sound system in the high school auditorium, lighting in the middle school auditorium, replacement of the preschool playground and paving of the sidewalk in front of the middle school. 

Other staffing reductions include turning the high school assistant principal position into a ten-month position rather than a full-year position and reducing middle school education staffing by one position. 

The certified staffing cuts in total amount to the equivalent of just over three full time positions.

Neviaser during the public hearing pointed to district budgets going back five years, including the proposed 7.39 increase, that combine for an average increase of 2.73% per year. The second highest jump during that time period was 3% in the budget approved last year. On the opposite end, the budget decreased 0.1% in 2022-23.

But he also included historical data to illustrate that the impact of the renovation project will continue. 

“Just to remind you, anytime we take on new debt service it drives the budget up, especially in the first few years,” he said. 

When debt came due on the last round of elementary school renovations in 2000-01, budget increases hovered around 10% for the first two years and 8% in the third. 

This time around, he emphasized increases won’t be as extreme because the district will spend about $17 million less than what was projected when the project was put out to referendum due to grant funding and good interest rates.