By Cherry Dumaual

NEW FAIRFIELD – School Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Craw opened the workshop with a reminder overview of the proposed FY 2026–27 school budget, a $53.6 million request representing a 4.4% increase. He explained that the budget is divided into two main parts. The baseline budget covers contractual obligations such as salaries and benefits, along with transportation, teacher turnover, and other fixed costs, accounting for about $1.6 million of the increase. The second part focuses on special education and pupil personnel services, driven largely by tuition and state and federal mandates.

Dr. Craw expressed his appreciation for the presence of members of the Board of Finance (BOF) at the workshop, saying that this will give the Board of Education (BOE) team the opportunity to answer questions during the financial presentation of the numbers.

Director of Pupil Personnel Services Monika Krepstzul, who is in her first full year in this position, presented first. In keeping with the presentation format, she discussed her department’s accomplishments, goals, and next steps.

Krepstzul said, “One of our goals is to improve and strengthen our communication and engagement with families. To accomplish this goal, we developed a PPS website that would serve as a centralized resource for our families.” She noted that the website is almost done and will provide easy access for families to find information, programs, forms, and supports.

There will be more family outreach: informational sessions (Early Learning Center, transition to adulthood), and regular parent coffees on Individualized Education Program (IEP), literacy, para support, and assistive tech.

Krepstzul talked about having more inclusive classrooms and activities; expanded inclusive extracurriculars, such as unified sports at middle and high school levels; and student-run high school businesses using the greenhouse and culinary programs.

Other highlights include STRIDES/transition successes: vocational sites doubled (five to 10), with some students in paid work; students earning college credits; increased independent travel using public transit and full participation in transition workshops; and working with fewer outside contractors and more in-district consistency. Paraeducator support shifted from agencies to district staff for better continuity and cost savings.

Krepstzul followed up with her department’s achievements and PPS budget requests. She explained the pressures on special education tuition. The district expects a $1.45 million rise in tuition/outplacement costs due to more complex student needs.

State reimbursement helps but doesn’t cover all costs. The budget assumes about $850,000 in excess cost reimbursement from the state (New Fairfield’s estimated reimbursement rate cited at 68%), reducing the net local impact. Combined town/BOE projections aim to capture roughly $1.3 million in excess cost reimbursement overall.

Krepstzul pointed to assessment and testing supplies and requested additional funds to buy updated tests, protocols, and software (last year’s assessment line was only about $8,000 and proved insufficient). She also covered other budget needs, such as operational/tech improvements; Medicaid reimbursement administration, which needs resources to support increased documentation, provider oversight, and parent consent collection to maximize federal and state reimbursements; professional development and OT capacity to expand occupational therapy training and other professional learning so more services can be provided in-district; and family engagement. This needs modest support to finish and maintain the PPS website and continue family information events.

Buildings and Grounds, Capital Improvement

The second budget presentation on buildings and grounds and capital improvement featured Director of Business and Operations Carrie DePuy and Director of Buildings and Grounds Joe Lombardozzi. DePuy said that NFPS occupies almost 400,000 square feet of space. She commended her team for keeping the schools up and running and helping ensure that staff and students are safe.

Budget requests for buildings and grounds include replacement of deteriorating maintenance garage two-bay doors, and replacement of an NFES door originally at the Meeting House. There is rotting at the bottom of the frame.

DePuy presented highlights of 2025–26 capital improvement accomplishments: replaced a 10,000-gallon underground oil storage tank (abandoned old tank in place; new tank installed); reclaimed four classrooms at the middle school for regular instruction; replaced a student transportation van; replaced the stadium track and turf in partnership with the town; performed masonry repairs at the middle school; replaced the middle school intercom system; constructed a new STEAM classroom at the middle school; created a district storage garage for equipment and materials; upgraded exterior lighting across campus; installed bollards around the middle/high school campus for improved safety; and made a year-one contribution to the Marty Morgan turf replacement fund.

DePuy and Lombardozzi followed up on the presentation of achievements with their 2026–27 Capital Improvement budget request. DePuy noted that a big part of the budget addresses middle school needs. “The theme is the middle school; it has major issues with the roof.” The school roof is old (30 years). The roofing membrane is dried out and blistering, and the gravel/top layer and flashing are worn or disintegrated. Inspectors described “little bubbles” and cracking that you can hear when walking on it—signs the membrane is failing and allowing water to penetrate. Those failures are causing active leaks and water intrusion into the building, so short-term patching (a proposed $50,000 segmented repair) is needed immediately to stop damage, and a full mechanical/roof feasibility study ($75,000) is proposed to plan a phased replacement (a multi-million-dollar project) and address associated HVAC/mechanical interactions.

DePuy and Lombardozzi want to get a bid for the feasibility study and start around July 1. The study is not intended to be highly invasive—discipline teams would inspect the roof, mechanicals, alarms, fire systems, etc. It will identify phased fixes and provide clarity for budgeting and potential bonding. Emphasis was placed on starting the study now because a major project later would require town votes and lengthen the timeline.

During the workshop, BOF Chairman Wesley Marsh advised, “You might want to start talking to the PBC and feasibility now, because once you have to put this up to a town vote, that’s going to lengthen the process here, and if we want to get this done next year, we need to really start working on that.”

Note: NF residents can learn full budget details by viewing recorded budget workshops at the NF BOE webpage: vimeopro.com/user53774442/new-fairfield-board-of-education

The next regular meeting of the New Fairfield Board of Education is scheduled for Thursday, February 5, at 7 p.m.