Cranston Public Schools is seeking a local appropriation increase of roughly 1.8 percent under the initial $169.2 million spending plan unveiled by Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse last week.

“We are building Cranston’s future. This is our job and our responsibility,” the superintendent said during her Jan. 22 presentation before the School Committee, describing the budget plan as one that “supports our efforts in curricula, facilities and instruction.”

The proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1 represents an overall increase of nearly $6.1 million – or approximately 3.7 percent – over the current year.

Under the plan, the city’s share of the budget would increase approximately $1.76 million, for a total of $97,308,757. Nota-Masse described the request as “modest” and noted it is well under the 4-percent cap outlined in state law.

Projected state aid, based on Gov. Gina Raimondo’s initial budget plan, would provide a much larger boost – an additional $4.02 million, or roughly 6.2 percent increase, for a total of $68,738,104. The superintendent noted that figures have the potential to “change pretty widely” by the time the city and state finalize their respective budget plans.

Nota-Masse’s budget additionally projects incoming tuitions for the Cranston Area Career & Technical Center at $1,390,000, an increase of $300,000, or roughly 28 percent, over the current year. While the expenditure line item that includes outgoing charter school and other tuitions will also increase, the superintendent said the city’s schools are “on the winning side” in terms of incoming and outgoing placement tuitions.

Meanwhile, in what would be a first for the district, the proposal sets aside $200,000 to cover the costs of school lunch debt – an issue Nota-Masse said has been ongoing. She noted that for the time period spanning from the start of school in September to just before Christmas, the district had incurred roughly $92,000 in school lunch debt – meaning meals provided to students but not paid for.

“We’ve tried myriad ways to address this … This can’t be a surprise in our budget. This can’t be something in June [each year] we’re trying to figure out how to pay for,” she said.

Elsewhere on the expenditure side, much of the increase is tied to salaries. They are set to rise by $4,028,316 – an approximately 4 percent increase over the current year. The cost of benefits would increase $1,093,948, or approximately 3 percent.

The budget additionally seeks $85,859 in additional funding for supplies and materials, an increase of roughly 2 percent.

While the district’s planning for the coming fiscal year began in November, the budget process remains in its early stages. The district is required to submit its budget plan to the city by March 1, and Mayor Allan Fung will subsequent unveil his city budget plan to the City Council, which will hold a series of hearings through its Finance Committee. The city’s budget will then be finalized in May.