Salary increases and the spike in the cost of heating oil are two of the driving forces behind the nearly $1 million increase in Westbrook’s school budget for next year.

Though increases in heating oil, electricity, diesel fuel, salaries and benefits amount to about $1.2 million, Superintendent Stan Sawyer was able to keep the total increase to $968,000, which represents an increase of 3.3 percent over the budget for this year.

With the increase, the total budget would be $30.1 million.

“This is just the beginning of the process,” said Sawyer, who hopes, by the end, there will be less than a 3 percent increase.

The current budget is 4.1 percent higher than the previous year.

Sawyer said the proposed increase for next year is less than the increase last year because of the number of retirements in 2007. When teachers retire, they are usually paid the highest salaries, and are replaced by teachers with less experience who are paid less, he said. According to Sawyer, about 15 people retired from the school department in 2007, four of whom weren’t replaced,

Sawyer said once the class schedules are set by the schools, principals might be able to find other positions aren’t necessary, which could lessen the increase.

“We really don’t have any new teachers or new programs,” Sawyer said about what is keeping next year’s budget down.

One additional expenditure is for a technology/data entry position, which will cost the school department $30,000 – the other half of the new employee’s $60,000 salary will be paid by the city.

Another $20,000 will go to the 21st Century Learning Program, which, up until now, has been completely funded by a grant. The grant gets smaller and smaller every year after the program is established. The program is for students from both Westbrook and Windham who are in transition due to their families moving, were hospitalized or incarcerated or are a distraction to their classes. The Windham School Department has also budgeted $20,000 toward the program, which is based at the REAL School in Windham.

Westbrook still hasn’t gotten the final word on what financial support the district will receive from the state. However, Sawyer said, unlike many communities, he believes Westbrook will get more money than last year’s $11.9 million. He said four figures have been presented to him showing increases in state funding of between $171,000 and $450,000. Between the 2006-07 school year and the 2007-08 school year, the district saw an increase of $406,000 in state aid.

According to Sawyer, changes in population and property valuation in communities are two major factors in determining the funding their schools will receive from the state. Because Westbrook’s population increased at a higher rate than the state’s did and because its property values increased at a lower rate than the state average, the city is eligible for more money from the state than a lot of other communities.

Sawyer said he still has some hope that energy costs will go down, or at least that the city will be able to lock into a heating oil price lower than the projected $3.40 per gallon – $1.40 more than this year’s rate.

“We still have a long way to go” before the final budget will be set, he said.

Sawyer was scheduled to give the Westbrook School Committee a budget overview at a meeting Wednesday, after the American Journal’s deadline. The board’s finance committee was scheduled to set a date for its first meeting to start reviewing the budget.