Increases Over Time

The proposed superintendent proposed budget has been released, and is $130,541,213. This post will be a description of the budget proposal taken through a historical lens.

First let’s review the budget percentage over time.  In the 2024-2025 Superintendent Proposed Budget, this was highlighted to illustrate how low the current numbers are.

Budget YearPercent Increase
2004-20055.51%
2005-20066.85%
2006-20077.92%
2007-20087.34%
2008-20096.75%
2009-20104.91%
2010-20113.29%
2011-20123.83%
2012-20132.67%
2013-20144.88%
2014-20154.41%
2015-20163.78%
2016-20172.89%
2017-20183.10%
2018-20192.20%
2019-20203.60%
2020-20213.60%
2021-20222.48%
2022-20233.80%
2023-20243.52%
2024-20254.81%
2025-20264.88%

Percent Over Time

Graphed out over time, we get a trend that looks like this. As the table shows, the overall trend has decreased over time.

Compared To Inflation

If we compare this increase to inflation, we see that for most years we see the budget increasing at a higher rate than inflation. These figures are based on data from Multpl and US Inflation Calculator.

Total Dollar Increase

However, the first chart can be misleading. A 4% budget increase on a budget of $150,000,000 is greater than a budget increase of $10 on $50,000,000. If we look at the total dollar increases, we see a budget line that looks like this.

The total budget over time looks like this. It has been a linear increase, causing the budget to increase 144.3% since 2004-2005. During this time, the Glastonbury population has increased by 6.88%. (32,896 to 35,159)

Inflation vs Budget

If we took the average increase from our starting 2004-2005 budget and just increased it to keep up with the cost of inflation (averaged to 2.79% over the time range) we would see the following. We can clearly see the value of the budget increasing over inflation.

Per Resident

I do not have access to the total student population over this time, but I do have access to the general census population during this time. If we take the yearly school budget and divide it by the Glastonbury population, we get the following. Each resident has gone from $1,624 per person to $3,540 per person. Some of these taxes are paid by businesses, and there are some grants given to GPS, so the numbers are not perfect, but the trend is clear.

The median appraised value in Glastonbury is $275,100.00. This proposal would take someone living in a home of that value and increase their yearly tax by $321, or $27 per month. While this may not seem like much, it compounds over time. The same person living in that home would have had their taxes increased by $4,079 since 2004.

Non Partisan Issue

This is not a partisan issue. The spending has increased evenly under Republican and Democratic leadership. For historical context, in 2017 Glastonbury switched from a Republican majority to a Democrat majority. This is a Glastonbury issue, not a partisan issue.

I’m not writing this to ask why the increases have been occurring. I understand that the needs of students have been increasing. I’m writing this to show the rate of increases graphed over time.

The total budget has increased 39.95% since 2009. Cumulative inflation over the same period is 43.62%. A 10% inflation over 10 years does not mean a $100 dollar item jumps to $200. The inflation is cumulative, so it jumps to $159.37. This means GPS’ purchasing power has slightly decreased despite the nominal growth in the total budget.

It also means that any department that has grown less than 39.95% has effectively shrunk in size.

Inflation Rate Data (2009–2024)

Here are the U.S. inflation rates for each year from 2009 to 2024. (Source: Historical Consumer Price Index (CPI)):

YearInflation (%)
2009-0.36%
20101.64%
20113.16%
20122.07%
20131.46%
20141.62%
20150.12%
20161.26%
20172.13%
20182.44%
20191.81%
20201.23%
20214.70%
20228.00%
20233.52%
20242.75%

0200 ART : 34.37% Increase

0300 BASIC EDUCATION ( K – 6 ) : 24.19% Increase

0400 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & READING : 34.58% Increase

0500 MATHEMATICS : 39.68% Increase

0600 SCIENCE : 38.95% Increase

0700 HISTORY & SOCIAL SCIENCES : 31.19% Increase

0900 CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION : 47.97% Increase

1000 COMMUNITY SERVICES : 20.38% Increase

1100 P.A.C.E. : 27.50% Increase

1300 FOREIGN LANGUAGE & ELL : 44.91% Increase

1400 SCHOOL COUNSELING : 89.29% Increase

1500 HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION : 37.65% Increase

1600 HEALTH SERVICES : 66.87% Increase

1900 LIBRARY MEDIA : 17.23% Increase

2000 MUSIC : 59.49% Increase

2100 OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE : 73.72% Increase

2200 UTILITIES : 2.21% Decrease

2300 PROGRAM & STAFF DEVELOPMENT : 34.37% Increase

2400 TRANSPORTATION : 42.81% Increase

2700 SPECIAL EDUCATION : 73.04% Increase

2800 ATHLETICS & CLUBS : 56.76% Increase

3000 AGRISCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY : 101.90% Increase

3100 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION : 2.39% Increase

3200 SECONDARY EDUCATION : 11.91% Increase

3300 SYSTEMWIDE SUPPORT : 117.80% Increase

3400 FRINGE BENEFITS & SUBSTITUTES : 42.83% Increase

3600 TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SERVICES : 99.77% Increase

Biggest Increases by Dollar

  1. 3400 Fringe Benefits & Substitutes
    • Dollar Increase: $6,881,083
    • 2009: $16,065,533 → 2024: $22,946,616
  2. 2700 Special Education
    • Dollar Increase: $6,097,365
    • 2009: $10,742,987 → 2024: $16,840,352
  3. 0300 Basic Education (K-6)
    • Dollar Increase: $3,362,227
    • 2009: $13,901,993 → 2024: $17,264,220
  4. 2100 Operations & Maintenance
    • Dollar Increase: $3,298,411
    • 2009: $4,474,220 → 2024: $7,772,631
  5. 1300 Foreign Language & ELL
    • Dollar Increase: $1,555,127
    • 2009: $3,462,575 → 2024: $5,017,702
  6. 1400 School Counseling
    • Dollar Increase: $2,148,034
    • 2009: $2,405,760 → 2024: $4,553,794
  7. 3600 Technology Support Services
    • Dollar Increase: $2,243,940
    • 2009: $2,249,085 → 2024: $4,493,025
  8. 1500 Health & Physical Education
    • Dollar Increase: $661,739
    • 2009: $1,757,406 → 2024: $2,419,145