Middletown district voters on May 16 passed a school budget of over $253 million by a 3:1 margin, according to the unofficial election results.
This year’s budget jumped by $25 million, or about 10 percent, from the past year, while the tax levy remains flat at $72 million.
The lion’s share of the budget increase, or $20 million, goes to instructional programs, especially the special education department, which expects to hire two dozen teaching assistants across the district and eight new teachers at elementary schools.
The rest of the budget bump, $5 million or so, covers the increasing administrative expenses, including the hiring of new administrators and new central data processing….