The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of this newspaper. We welcome supporting or opposing views on any published item. Received April 26, 2026.
Let’s look at a couple of facts about our school budget and the quality we get from investing our tax money there.
Information from www.edsight.ct.gov shows that our cost per student is in the mid-range of area towns. The chart below compares three local Regional School Budgets with three local Single-Town School Budgets. In single-town school systems, the cost of plowing/maintenance on school property comes out of the Town Budget. In Regional School Districts, those costs come out of the school budget. Factoring that in, our cost per student is actually the lowest of these six area towns.
| District | # Pupils | Cost per Student | Certified Staff |
| 2024-2025 | 2024-2025 | 2024-2025 | |
| RSD 17 | 1,716 | $28,639 | 197 |
| RSD 13 | 1,339 | $30,387 | 176 |
| RSD 4 | 646 | $34,045 | 85 |
| East Haddam | 954 | $25,924 | 125 |
| Old Saybrook | 1,030 | $28,583 | 148 |
| Clinton | 1,426 | $26,336 | 182 |
And let’s look at the quality of the education those tax dollars provide. Our SAT scores are the highest of these six towns, and 89.7% of our graduates go on to college or technical or military training after high school.
The level of community involvement in our school system and the work of the Board to be responsive is integral to these successes and worthy of our support in these tough economic times.
Kate Wessling, Haddam
Impressive numbers by themselves, but something about a member of the BOE tooting their own horn does not sit well with me, especially when they do not compare statistics to the state’s better- run schools like those in Fairfield County. The towns being compared here are all infected with the same overspend virus as KW. I still say to vote no.
The cost comparison isn’t correct. In the FY27 budget book on the May 5 ballot, snow removal is $32,750. All building and grounds repairs, field maintenance, and snow removal combined come to about $895,000. For RSD 17 to “actually be the lowest” once plowing and maintenance are factored in, the offset would need to be about $4.66 million. The numbers don’t get there. Worth knowing for the bigger question on May 5 — a 6.07% increase, with $2.35M sitting in a reserve fund already double the Board’s own 2% policy target.