Students Confront School Board Over Fees

By Larissa Lytwyn

The $40 pay-to-participate fees implemented by the school board as an alternative to cutting programs completely elicited passionate concern from approximately 200 Newtown High School students and their families during the Board’s November 4 meeting.

To accommodate the crowd, the meeting was conducted in the Newtown Middle School auditorium, instead of its usual location in Canaan House.

Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff provided an overview of last year’s budget struggles. He discussed how the budget was rejected twice by voters. After passing on its third referendum, the budget was further sliced by the Board of Finance and twice by the Legislative Council.

To meet its final $49,407,147 allocation, the school board spent much of June sitting in Canaan House past midnight, debating how cuts could be made meet budget guidelines.

During this time, the board wrangled over the possible elimination of freshmen sports and the gifted-and-talented Discovery Program.

Ultimately, the board rescheduled the Discovery Program to before and after school. Freshmen sports were saved, although participation fees for some sports rose from $50 to between $100 and $200. Fourth grade orchestra, however, was cut. Technology budgets were curtailed and the number of teachers reduced, increasing class size.

School board Chairman Elaine McClure discussed how parents had pleaded for the board to salvage programs, including sports, Discovery, and other extracurricular activities. Many parents, she reflected, said they would pay rather than have the activity cut completely.

“Had I known how many problems would result from this fee,” she said, “I’m not sure the board would have implemented it.”

Dr Pitkoff summarized the ideas proposed during a series of meetings between the administration and students in the month since the fees began being collected in mid-September. “Students feel the fees are unfair because they feel they provide services to the school and town,” Dr Pitkoff read from a statement distributed throughout the audience. “They have also been concerned about late notification, the burden on advisors to collect, the wish to ensure that fees do not recur in the future, and the fact that money is already paid for toward uniforms and transportation, among other considerations.”

The superintendent then discussed his own concerns. He described how fee collection was already in progress, noting that fees had already been collected from parking, fall sports, Reed Intermediate and Newtown Middle School.

Dr Pitkoff was also concerned that some student representatives had indicated that they would dissolve all school-sponsored clubs and extra curricular activities, conducting them outside of school.

Dr Pitkoff said that this proposal would hurt students, depriving them of great experiences and weaken the high school transcripts they send to college admissions offices. Some clubs have tried to elicit support from local businesses. If they are not truly a school-supported club, however, the donation is not tax deductible and must be returned. Finally, nonschool sponsored activities would eliminate faculty advisors via an elimination of their stipend. These teachers provide supervision and structure to maintain program quality, noted Dr Pitkoff.

Most teachers who receive stipends return large portions, if not the entire amount, back to the club.

Dr Pitkoff’s proposed resolutions included the elimination of payment requirements for intramurals, short-term workers on school plays, such as makeup artists and ticket-takers, the orchestra pit crew and tech crew. Further, the $40 could cover multiple club participation, perhaps even encouraging more students to participate in more organizations to maximize the use of their fee.

Newtown High School senior Alison Berk, however, disagreed, citing moral objections. “As a member of the orchestra pit crew, I am rehearsing with the production cast as late as 1 am,” she said. “Why should only I be exempt when we’re putting in the same amount of time?”

Another student, Michael Compagnoni, challenged the legality of the board’s fee. Referring to a thick binder of documents, he discussed State Statute 10-237, which mandates that club-member fees be directly returned to the club, assisting its operation. Michael expressed concern that the club fees collected in Newtown are deposited in a “general activity fund.”

Dr Pitkoff expressed regret that the information was not discussed with him prior to the board meeting.

Business Manager Ron Bienkowski explained that the board operates according to a separate set of statutes, but told Michael that he would seek an attorney’s opinion in the matter.

Terry Greenfield, mother of Newtown High School senior Leslie Greenfield, described the public’s perception of the board’s operational techniques as “underhanded and sneaky.”

As the meeting progressed, divisions among students themselves became evident. Newtown High School senior Steven Truitt commended the board on its dedication to students and his understanding that “no one wanted the fee.” The swim team captain said that he would be willing to pay the $40 and even suggested that if one of the members of his team could not afford the fee, he “would work three in a half extra hours” for the student to participate.

Other students disagreed. Michelle Grills said that the demand of academic projects and other obligations made it impossible for “all” students to work extra hours to accommodate less fortunate peers. “Wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t have the fees at all?” asked Alana Jacoby.

Newtown High School Social Studies Chairman Candi Dietter commended the students for their comments, particularly those who “went against” the sentiment of anti-fee students. She reminded the group that the budget process had been debated all spring and that the school board conducted meetings on the first two Tuesdays of each month. All meetings are open to the public.

The school board, she said, was not for the fees any more than students. It was a budgetary bottom line that had to be considered.

Board member Andrew Buzzi acknowledged the cluster of students donning shirts stating “United We Stand: For life, liberty and the pursuit of extracurricular activities,” with a wry observation. While it was important for students to recognize their rights, he said, it was also important to recognize their responsibilities as active citizens.

Board member Earl Gordon, who is ending his four-in-a-half year school board tenure in December, expressed frustration over what he perceived to be a misunderstanding over the board’s intention. Reminding the audience about the constraints of the disastrously limited education budget, he talked about the board’s dedication to serving all its students. “When there was a field trip proposal, our first question was how we could make it feasible for less fortunate students to participate,” he said.

The bottom line, he continued, was that the taxpayers simply had not wanted to use their dollars to support a “select” group in town — the students.