Winooski school budget holds costs down in anticipation of summer renovations

On Town Meeting Day Tuesday, the makeup of Winooski’s School Board will change very little while the district looks ahead to campus renovations. And given the upcoming construction, school officials have proposed a budget with an increase of less than 1 percent beyond the construction costs. 

On the ballot is a proposed budget for the 2020-21 fiscal upcoming year of $19,005,064, a 5.61% increase from last year’s approved budget. However, 5% of that increase covers renovation expenses with just .61% of the increase covering other items in the operating budget, school officials said. 

School board elections feature two incumbents running unopposed for re-election: board President and nine-year member Michael Decarreau running for another three-year term and board member Tori Cleiland seeking another two-year term.

Decarreau has sent his five children through the single campus of the Winooski School District and said he has enjoyed his time on the board so far.

“It’s been a very rewarding experience on the board -- it hasn’t been a thankless job. Ten years ago Winooski had an underperforming reputation. Now we all agree that what we’re doing here is incredible for what we have to work with,” Decarreau said. 

The district’s enrollment is 855 from preschool through 12th grade, and it is entering the second year of a bond for school renovations with construction set to begin this summer. 

Perhaps the biggest advocate for the costs of renovation is Superintendent Sean McMannon, now in his seventh year in Winooski. 

“One of our guiding principles was learning. We wanted to modernize learning spaces to support the program and learning that’s already happening, and we worked with designers to put together a building that will support all of that,” McMannon said.

One notable increase in the school budget for next year involves what McMannon called a major improvement with transportation. 

Winooski schools lack a full door-to-door bus service due to the city’s small size and budget limitations. The proposed budget would pay to increase the number of days that two school buses will run during the winter months to bring students to school from central locations in the community. It would serve students living .75 miles away from campus for 80-90 days of the school year, according to the district’s budget information. 

“There’s a lot of community advocacy during the budget cycle for transportation. We [now] have 40 days of transport to school during winter which has increased each year,” McMannon said.

He emphasized the effort to continue growing the school bus service. 

“We would like to continue to expand it in the future even outside of the winter months if possible, which would start to generate revenue from the state toward funding buses after a couple years of transport,” McMannon said. 

In addition to the budget, a second article on the Tuesday ballot regarding school funding asks voters to authorize the school district to accept up to $2,790,525 in federal funding. This item will not have any impact on the tax rate. 

This new budget creates a 7.4% tax increase as calculated by the state formula, with many residents set to pay less as 59% of Winooski homeowners received tax assistance in 2019, according to school budget materials. The tax bill on a home valued at $200,000 would increase by $242 to $3,478 without any tax credits. 

An informational meeting about the budget will be held at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 2, in the school’s Performing Arts Center. It will follow a 6 p.m. presentation on the city budget. 

Details about the school budget are also online on the district’s website at wsdvt.org.