Declining enrollment, demographic changes, diminishing state aid and other institutional issues will continue to plague the Bristol Warren Regional School District's finances year in and year out unless long-term solutions are found, local finance officials warned at their first review of the district's proposed $58 million budget Thursday evening.

The Joint Finance Committee, which is charged with determining how much taxpayers in Warren and Bristol will contribute to the district this coming year, met for the first of two sessions in a Zoom-based meeting; the second, at which a local aid amount is set, will be held in two weeks.

Thursday's meeting was turned over in large part to Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Brice, who later took questions from the nine-member board.

He laid out the district's 2021-22 budget plan and described the many spending cuts that will have to be made if the JFC passes the proposed budget as is. If the JFC grants the district the 3 percent increase in local spending asked for, Bristol Warren schools will be $2.3 million short of the revenues they will need this coming year.

With nearly 80 percent of the budget locked in for salaries and benefits, he said, making up for that shortfall will require hard choices. They include the elimination of nearly 24 full time employee positions, cuts in sports spending, reductions in services, larger class sizes and the closure of the administration offices at the Oliver School in Bristol.

"Ultimately, there's just a really tough road ahead," Dr. Brice said. "As a community, we need to galvanize."
Still, he said, talk within the local communities that the district is not being well-managed are false:

"I want to dispel the aspersions and the rumors. Our district finances are in good shape. It does not mean that everything is perfect. But our district is on firm financial footing."

Instead, he said many of the district's issues stem from longer term trends that must be addressed. They include a 13 to 14-year trend of declining enrollment, which costs the district state dollars. They include the phase-out of the state's regionalization bonus. And they include the changing demographics and property values in the two towns, which also have an impact on what the district receives from the state.

To eliminate the yearly grind for local dollars and put the district on a better financial footing will take a multi-pronged approach, he said. He believes it should include adding CTE (Career/Technical Education) programs that make students from other communities want to come here. Also needed will be a concerted effort to increase enrollment in students' early years of school, more accurate long-term planning and taking a hard look at the district's enabling legislation. Many of the steps need to come not just from within the district, but from the towns as a whole, he said.

"As a community, we need to galvanize."

JFC members agreed that the yearly machinations the towns go through to provide a budget need to stop.

"It looks like we're going to constantly be in a cycle where we have dropping enrollment," said JFC member Timothy Sweeney, a member of the Bristol Town Council. "I hate to see all these cuts and ... getting into a cycle" of yearly cutting.

"We are in a dilemma," added member Steve Contente, Bristol's town administrator. "What do we do now? We need to start planning ahead. This (yearly struggle to find a good budget) is not helping the district. What it is doing is causing what is a very good district to appear to be disorganized."

"To have a built-in deficit that's getting away from us ... I just think the next three years are going to be really crucial to getting back in shape," said JFC Chairman Steve Calenda, who was re-elected to the position at the start of the meeting.

"I think it can be done, I really do."

Where would cuts come from?
1. The elimination of 3.4 full time district-wide employee positions and contracted services, for a savings of $374,772. Employee cuts include a digital learning staff member, network manager, assistant facilities manager, special education coordinator, contracted child outreach screener, SEL consultant, and a Kickemuit Middle School dean.

2. The elimination of the Oliver School as the district headquarters. Dr. Brice said this would save $100,000 per year in operating costs and will also lead to lower future capital budget costs.

3. The elimination of four full time elementary school teachers plus a part time reading specialist. This will necessitate an increase in class sizes from 15 to 24 students, from the current 19 to 24 students, and reduced reading services. The cuts will save $289,004.

4. The elimination of four middle school teachers for a savings of $239,004. This will necessitate a reorganization of Kickemuit Middle School's team model, with 24 students per section.

5. The elimination of 2.25 full time positions at the high school, for a savings of $139,439. This will result in fewer in-house electives, which would be supplemented with increased access to Edgenuity, the district's online program provider.

6. The elimination three full time clerks for a savings of $187,749.

7. The elimination of two custodians for a savings of $138,459.

8. The elimination of four teachers' assistants, for a savings of $224,244.

9. An $89,012 reduction in athletic supplies and equipment. No teams will be eliminated.

10. Software subscriptions, supplies and materials, and extracurricular activity funds would be cut by $151,191.

11.  A $19,676 reduction in supplies and materials, which Dr. Brice said could be realized with relatively little impact by switching to a district-wide model for purchasing materials. Buying on the district level, instead of each school doing its own ordering, will save the district money due to economies of scale, he said.

12. Finally, other contractual services, including health care, would be reduced by $352,450. However, this is just a potential savings as it remains to be seen whether contracts could be reworked to reduce the district's costs.