Our schools are at risk of having services reduced by a Board of Finance proposed budget cut of $2 million-plus.
Many of you have moved to New Canaan just in the past five years. Others have enjoyed many years in this wonderful town. Town surveys have repeatedly told us that the vast majority of you have moved here because of our public schools (71% listed the schools as reason #1). This isn’t surprising. Our schools are ranked at the top of the state and country with our administration, teachers, staff, coaches and volunteers representing the absolute best our country has to offer.
Our town government, our students and their families have been dedicated partners over decades in helping to achieve outstanding results. However, there have been times when town government has strayed from supporting this core mission. When this has happened, residents have stepped up, been vocal and told town government that there is nothing more important to them than our public schools. When residents are vocal we get the right result – our schools are properly funded and our students succeed at the highest levels, healthily and happily.
Please tell our Board of Finance they should support the Board of Education budget by attending the BOF public hearing this Tuesday (March 3rd) at 7 p.m. at Town Hall (or if you cannot attend, email them and the Town Council at tcdistribution@newcanaanct.gov; bofdistribution@newcanaanct.gov). Here are a few facts that should help you understand why the BOE budget should be funded in full.
In the past 10 years, the compound annual growth rate in the BOE budget was 3.18%, as compared to CPI (inflation) at 3.22%. In the past 20 years, our ranking of expenditures per pupil in the state has gone from #18 to #43, despite being consistently in the top-five wealthiest towns in the state. Our grand list (aggregate property value) has gone from ~$8 billion to ~$10 billion in the past five years. It costs New Canaan approximately $25,000 to educate each student each year. As a former Town Councilman, a financial conservative, used to say, that’s pretty good value, particularly in light of private school costs and NCPS results.
The Board of Finance has suggested we have overspent and over-hired given stable to declining past enrollment trends. The above numbers prove the opposite. In fact, we have hired additional personnel, who provide our students better service at a reduced cost. When we hire more people for our literacy academy, launch program or downtown campus, we keep students in the district with their peers and families, they get better results and we spend less as a town by not having to send them to other schools. When we hire maintenance staff, they regularly service our physical plant, lengthen useful lives and avoid costly outsourced repairs. These are just a few examples. The financial results speak for themselves.
The BOE approved a 3.9% operating budget increase for the next school year (2026-27), which is now in front of the Board of Finance. After the BOF, the budget will go to Town Council for review. The BOE budget is 83% salaries and benefits (personnel only, virtually all of which is contractually obligated). The remainder is essential for utilities, transportation and operations (to keep the lights on). The Board of Finance proposed a $2 million operating budget cut ($3.8 million including capital). On Thursday night NCPS administration offered an $800,000 operating cost reduction (via a usage of funds from our lunch program and aggressive assumptions for retirement savings and out of district student placements). This was a good faith effort to reduce the BOE “ask.” The BOF ended the meeting by asking for more—to get to a $2 million reduction. No explanation.
An additional operating reduction of $1.2 million would mean an elimination of faculty and staff at NCPS, and run counter to the needs and financial interests of our residents.
Please tell our BOF you want them to prioritize our schools and maintain the BOE budget as presented last Thursday by the BOE. Please attend on Tuesday night and speak in support of our children.
New Canaan Board of Education
Phil Hogan, chair
Lara Kelly, vice chair
Erica Schwedel, secretary
Hugo Alves
Kate Brambilla
Raquel Harrison
Brendan Hayes
Joshua Kaye
Matt Wexler
Watch the BOF meeting and detailed discussion on staffing head count.
Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87iyPEm0n68
starting at 43:11.
You can discount anything the BOE says!
The people who were going to spend $300
Million of your tax dollars on a new School.
The fact is there are 250 less students and
100 more staff then in 2015. The numbers don’t lie!
The BOS said the Town was facing a 6.9%
Increase in your taxes. Anyone who feels
The BOE should not be cut in their ask over last year can write a check for an extra 1,000
5,000 or 10,000 and send it to them.
They will accept it.
But before you do it this is the group that
let the superintendent not to bid out a
10 + million dollar line item on their
Budget for 11 yrs.
The result the BOE has spent over $35 million dollar more on health care
Then our neighbor Darien in 11 years.
Who has more students, more staff then we
have. And after being told over a year ago still refused to bid it out!
WHO DOES THAT ? NOT BID OUT WHAT
IS NOW A YEARLY LINE ITEM OF $23 MILLION IN TOTAL EXPENSES.
We as taxpayers can’t trust the BOE to
do their job which they were elected to do.
We can trust the BOF to make financial
decision on budgets.
The BOE over the last 15 yrs has approved
Over a billion dollars of the superintendent
Propose budgets without cutting $1 from
those budgets.
.
No other town or city BOE does that
Darien BOE cuts money every year.
Again not even 1 dollar!
From 2007 the nation was in a deep
financial crisis with inflation at 0 %
For a almost a decade.
The school budget was around 65 million in
2010 it’s now near 120 million.
More to come
What did the Chair of the Audit committee Rob tell the TC on why he did not want the job anymore ? The chair of the TC just
sent his letter to me after a foia request last week.
And did the Town audit highlight
No bid contracts and is that why the
first Selectman has not agreed to released it in it’s present form.
It’s 6 months overdue.
Question Question Question ❓
Seems to me the BOE needs to curb the Superintendent’s spending waste. For example, the Superintendent spent $125k on a study related to a new school when the town had documentation for years that the location was doomed and the BOE members had not visited the site. The Superintendent also spends money on legal fees regarding FOIA requests after losing an obvious case related to closed door meetings. Rather than play on emotion, focus on numbers and financial waste and you likely may save even more than $2MM.
Have you ever wondered why new Canaan public schools—- the industry of the town have such great reviews and ratings —maybe it’s the outstanding school superintendent who does studies and has an outstanding staff!
This is why we need an elected, not appointed, Board of Finance. This board is too powerful to not be directly accountable to the electorate.
As a parent in district for 11 years and with three kids currently enrolled in NCPS, I’m deeply aware of the hard work that goes into operating the best public school system in the state and one of the top in the country. Hard decisions are made every day to fund necessities and priorities with eyes trained on the future success of our students and thereby our town and district. Education is a people business and it requires investment in the people who show up everyday to do the work – our students, teachers, staff and administrators. Dr. Luizzi and the BOE come to the budget table every year ready to work together to create a reasonable and responsible budget. I hope that every New Canaanite will come to the budget table in the same spirit and support our schools. Our schools are the #1 reason young families move to town, buy homes, pay taxes, volunteer in the community and continue the legacy work that keeps New Canaan a beautiful and desirable place to live. As a rapidly aging parent of middle and high schoolers, I implore my younger elementary school parent friends to please attend the BOF meeting on Tuesday 3/3 at 7pm at Town Hall and speak in support of our schools – if you’re interested but unsure or nervous about doing this, I’m happy to chat: lauren.connolly@gmail.com.
I just googled USN&WR high school rankings for 2025-2026:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/connecticut/districts/new-canaan-school-district/new-canaan-high-school-4491
New Canaan High School 2025-2026 Rankings
Overview of New Canaan High School
New Canaan High School is ranked second within Connecticut. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® coursework and exams. The AP® participation rate at New Canaan High School is 69%. The total minority enrollment is 20%. New Canaan High School is the only high school in the New Canaan School District.
New Canaan High School is ranked #249 in the National Rankings. Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college. Read more about how we rank the Best High Schools.
It is amazing how residents believe taxpayer’s especially retired seniors living on fixed income have unlimited resources. The schools have a $100,000,000 budget. Student enrollment has been exaggerated for years, including future estimates. Our BOE has more administrators per teacher than the ratio in large corporate and private entities. Over- spending is unchecked. For insta once 2 years ago 3 high end Suburbans were purchased at a cost of approximately $ 168,000 without competitive bidding directly from a town elected official and without knowledge of the elected BOE or approval from the elected BOS. Dodge vans just as safe at 1/2 the cost would have been efficient. Only one student at at time is transported in each Suburban. Too much unchecked waste. No internal controls, remember the lunch ladies, the missing sport ticket money, etc. The BOF is correctly doing their job, demanding honest projections of student body and putting checks on wasteful spending.
Perhaps retired seniors should be exempt from town school tax and a surcharge per student addded to the tax on those with school age children who advocate unchecked spending.
Or perhaps those retired seniors on fixed incomes whose home values have significantly benefited from the influx of young families who are here for the schools should sell their houses and move somewhere more affordable?
So you are anti seniors who have supported New Canaan for decades and paid decades of taxes to support our schools and infrastructure. Typical buy me, show me I want what is yours generation gap comment. Seniors have a right to reside here. Did you ever hear of age discrimination. Many towns with regular school ratings have participated in the housing value increase due to many fleeing NYC. The schools are not the only factor. I know many moving to New Canaan who do not have school age children. We are speaking of waste. Stopping waste will not hinder children’s education or lower our schools ratings. Take your blinders off, stop shooting from the hip, and study facts.
No, I’m not “anti-seniors” (insert eyeroll). I think most seniors respect the symbiotic relationship between our great schools and our home values.
I am an alumni parent — yeah, yeah, okay a senior — who fully supports the BOE budget. At the same time, I read the comments suggesting seniors just leave town to cash in on home values as cruel, flippant and disrespectful. However it was intended – and the eye roll doesn’t help — it landed in a hurtful way to so many who want to stay here in the town they have called home for decades.
To me, the budget request stands on its own merit adn I will be sending an email to the BOF in support. Under Dr. Luizzi’s tenure, the school system seems to have rocketed into a new level of competence, support, and caring to better meet the needs of all students. From my vantage point, it looks like it is even much better than when my kids attended. I’m grateful to the administration and to the BOE for stewarding the fortunes of our next generation so expertly and with great compassion.
The issue of how to handle the real needs of those on limited budgets — regardless of the tie to home value — is one that deserves attention but not in such a coarse manner in the comments that turn this into age and class warfare.
Indeed — I was wondering why the BOE even had to make this an appeal to young parents. It’s an appeal that goes to ALL of us. Where do we stand as a community on how we collectively uphold our standards of care for our children (those we birth and those we nurture as community elders)? That’s the question at hand here. I think that Dr. Luizzi has fully passed the test of outstanding financial and educational management. Let’s keep that going!
Wow, Ms. Bermingham, that’s cruel. I’ve lived here for 30 years without children. What you just said is like a stake in my heart. There are many reasons to choose to live in New Canaan.
I don’t see her comment as attacking anyone. I hear her saying that New Canaan’s strong schools have boosted home values, creating an option/opportunity for homeowners seeking to retire. She didn’t invent the ideas of selling high, taxation or stretching a dollar. Her comment doesn’t have to be seen or cast as a personal attack.
I do Micheal: I am a senior. Paid New Canaan real estate and car tax for 29 years. No child in the schools. So according to her I should move.
Comment is totally out of line and inconsiderate
Sorry. I can afford to reside in New Canaan and support the community.
I totally agree there are many reasons to live in NC! I was replying to the last line in Roy’s message. I am sorry that my comment was hurtful to you.
Well, Ms Bermingham, have you considered that many of these retired seniors have educated their children in NC, paid high property taxes to support the school, and wish to remain here?
They may no longer have the income that our wealthy young residents are earning. So, they should sell their homes now and move where? Many well-to-do cities in our country do exempt seniors from school taxes and still maintain very high education standards. Do you have any other suggestions?
I was replying to an outlandish suggestion (that retired seniors should be exempt from school tax) with an outlandish response (that if you can’t afford taxes in NC, you should move). I thought that was clear from the context. I have nothing against seniors… I’m nearly one myself!
The accusatory tone and Trumpian hyperbole of Mr. Vachula’s correspondence are out of order. There is a disagreement between the Board of Finance and the Board of Education over how best to provide a great school system for New Canaan. These are matters of judgment, and reasonable people can disagree. Screaming at the top of your voice doesn’t make you right, it just makes you offensive.
Thank you BOF. Please cut the $2M. As a parent of 3 kids that went through NCPS, I have first hand knowledge of this school system. The success of NCPS is more about the kids that make up the school than some magical formula that enriches the system. Surely there’s a lot of fluff in a $114M budget. Find it and subtract $2M.
And to be clear, just because a town collects more money is not a good enough reason to spend more money. Cut the $2M and reduce our taxflation.
Thank you. Well said !
I would like to see checks and balances implemented in New Canaan government and the budget for the Board of Education. There should be competitive bids for healthcare, we have spent $35million over 11 years more vs Darien. Why is that?? I never can get an answer.
I now live in New Canaan but used to be Chairman of Darien’s Board of Finance. Darien had a culture of rebidding the healthcare provider for the BOE and worked with our Board of Education to ensure their buy-in. It is important to research and vet the bidders as high service is promised but not always delivered. We did save a lot of money doing so though. As a separately-elected body, Darien Board of Finance members are very comfortable diving deep into the different budgets to offer “suggestions,” which were generally well received if not always adopted. I made a promise to the BOE that if they really needed to add to their expenditures outside of the budget cycle, I would support it. This allowed them to trust our budget and not pad their requests. That being said, we always were aware that school parents want the very best education for their children that the seniors had for theirs, and thus cutting for the sake of cutting or for political points was not a viable pathway for the town’s success in the long term.
As an alumni of New Canaan, a teacher, as well as a resident and parent of two children in New Canaan Public Schools there is a responsibility that comes with living in a community. New Canaan provides a world class education that attracts the best staff and residents. Believing that reducing funding to our school system will have beneficial outcomes for our children and town lacks any evidence. I am happy to pay taxes when they are used for services that benefit the community and we should be grateful to live in a place that values education.