Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders and School Board Chair Tim Theberge wish to thank voters in the nine towns that comprise the district for their support in passing the district’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget and a series of warrant articles yesterday.
“Taken together, the budget and warrant articles advanced by the board and approved by voters represent a strong commitment by the district to support students of all ages through robust programming, as well as the retention and recruitment of excellent educators,” Theberge said. “On behalf of the board, I want to thank voters for their overwhelming support of these guiding principles, which will help ConVal build on its successes and look ahead to a strong future.”
Each of the board-sponsored articles passed by a margin of 60 percent or more, paving the way for an expanded public preschool program, as well as a fully-funded operating budget for the coming fiscal year. Voters also widely supported a new collective bargaining agreement between the district and the ConVal Education Association.
The new collective bargaining agreement will run for three years, beginning this summer, and calls for step salary increases for years of experience for classroom teachers, pay raises for paraprofessionals serving as substitutes, a 0.5% annual increase in employee healthcare contributions and the establishment of a fund for repayment of employee student loans. The new agreement will result in cost increases of $877,844 in year one, $737,576 in year two and $714,868 in the final year.