Education
Darien Public Schools

Board of Ed OKs $98M Budget with 4.5% Increase (2.34% from Loss of State Aid)

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The Darien Board of Education approved a 2017-2018 budget of 98,073,175, which represents a 4.5 percent increase over the budget passed last year. The removal of about $2.1 million in state aid accounts for a 2.34 percent increase in the burden on taxpayers, and school district spending would also increase 2.16 percent. Working until just past midnight, the board voted on the budget after a  4 1/2 hour public meeting (with a half-hour executive session before that). The board supported the funding of two special education department chairs instead of the one originally proposed by Superintendent Dan Brenner. One would supervise special education in the high school, the other in Middlesex Middle School.

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Harman, Zuro, Dineen, bill 912-13-16

Board of Education Cooking Up Plans for Expanding High School Cafeteria

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The Darien High School Cafeteria is so loud “you cannot really hear yourself think” a school official said. Even worse, it’s become too small as the school population has expanded — and, still worse, the population is expected to get bigger when the current 7th grade gets into the high school in a few years. It’s already so bad that students will leave the cafeteria to eat somewhere else in the building (or, in warmer seasons, outside). So the Facilities Committee of the Board of Education, working with consultants, has been looking into expansion plans for the room. Committee Chairman David Dineen on Tuesday night presented an outline of the committee’s proposal to the full board.