Nov. 23—NORWICH — Three months into the school year, financial officials at Norwich Free Academy and Norwich Public Schools are forecasting budget deficits and are attempting to cut costs in the hopes of avoiding budget and hiring freezes this year.
NFA Head of School Nathan Quesnel met with NFA faculty last week and on Tuesday provided an overview to the NFA Board of Trustees on the financial picture for the current school year and projections for next year in the face of declining high school enrollment.
Special education enrollment is down by 13 students from the early projection of 272 students, meaning a projected loss in tuition revenue of $750,000, Quesnel said. The academy also faces a shortfall in projected enrollment and lower tuition revenue from international students by about $150,000 to $200,000. Quesnel said fewer full-payment international students with NFA offering merit tuition discounts to some students based on their transcripts, Quesnel said.
NFA has been cutting costs where possible on campus this year, Quesnel said, including not filling six positions, including one special education teacher and one Spanish teacher. Students have been assigned to other classes, Quesnel said, without a significant increase in class sizes. Quesnel praised staff for adjusting and sharing workloads in response to the cutbacks.
No student programs have been curtailed, Quesnel said.
NFA has asked all campus departments to cut costs where possible, he said, but without a mandated spending freeze to date. One math teaching position has been filled, and NFA must replace the leaking roof on the Tirrell Building, costing an estimated $350,000 and replace a failed chiller on that building's roof.
Quesnel presented the Board of Trustees with what he called "a very sobering" enrollment report that highlights a decline in projected high school enrollment throughout the region. Enrollment has been declining slowly over the past decade, and that trend is expected to continue.
As of the Oct. 1 date when official enrollment is set for next year's tuition bills to the partner districts, NFA has 52 fewer students than expected, affecting next year's tuition revenue.
Last January, NFA approved a $37.6 million operating budget for this year that included a 7.25% tuition increase for the eight partner districts that use NFA as their designated high school.
NFA class sizes are trending downward, with the current 11th grade class at 580 students, 10th grade at 509 students and next year's eighth grade class in partner districts at 468 students. NFA currently has 2,068 students, Tony Girasoli, director of IT told the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.