ROCKY HILL - Rising personnel costs are among the primary drivers behind a Superintendent-proposed $2.1 million school spending increase, with the Rocky Hill district looking to accommodate a growing special education student population.

       District Superintendent Dr. Mark Zito presented the tentative budget �" representing a near-4.5 percent hike over the current $48.2 million in school expenditures �" to the Board of Education (BOE) last Thursday, to kick off a round of workshops that will inform their deliberations over coming weeks.

       In a budget that owes 64 percent of its dollars to salary costs, contractually fixed pay increases will and staff benefits account for 3.7 percent of the proposed 4.5 percent inflation, Zito said.

       "As I've always said, education is a people-intensive industry,” the Superintendent said. “That's consistent across every district - not just in Connecticut, but the country."

       And with special education enrollment up �" even though the district’s overall student population appears to be stabilizing for the first time in years �" Zito and his team are hoping to bring on more people to meet the demand for services.

       The past year saw a dip in enrollment �" down from 2,630 students last October to 2,534 this past fall �" but Zito thinks that’s a temporary product of the pandemic. Out of 103 students lost this past year, 41 are in homeschooling.

       "In a typical year, it might be 6-8 kids, and I anticipate once we get through this nightmare, we'll see some of those kids coming back,” he said.

       What has gone up is the share of enrollment utilizing special education services �" now close to 15 percent of Rocky Hill students, compared to 9 percent 10 years ago.

       "That's a significant increase in kids with unique needs,” Zito said. “Ten years ago, we had 230 kids in special education. Today, we have 377 kids.”

       And that doesn’t include the 180 students with 504 plans, he said.

       "I think part of the reason is we have great programming, and we have a reputation as a town that embraces kids with unique challenges,” Zito said.

       So Zito’s proposed budget adds a special education teacher, as well as a paraeducator �" at over $61,000 in collective staff costs.

       The Superintendent’s $1.9 million in new position requests �" 3.9 percent of the proposed budget increase �" include a Grade 6 World Language teacher that would allow the district to continue the French and Spanish curriculum enhancements they initiated in the fifth-grade last year.

       "We want to make sure we continue with robust foreign language instruction at the 6th grade level,” Zito said.

       The proposed expenditures for new staffing includes $18,000 for building substitutes �" teachers and paraprofessionals.

       While the pandemic-driven demand for substitutes will be a passing phenomenon, the rate �" up from $90 to $150 per day �" is likely the new norm, Zito said.

       Rocky Hill Public Schools made the adjustment in lockstep with other districts, he said.

       "If we didn't meet that rate, we'd be frozen out of the market,” Zito said.

       Even with costs going up, Rocky Hill remains at the top of its District Reference Group (D) in SAT scores and at the bottom in expenditures �" special education and otherwise.

       Rocky Hill’s special education costs take up 19 percent of its overall budget �" the lowest in District Reference Group D.

       The district is still $5.5 million under the Reference Group average for overall expenditures �" and $9.9 million when compared to the State.

       “We're certainly not overspending on education in Rocky Hill,” Zito told the Board. "We're getting topflight education at a cost that's below average.”