Council Panel Reviews School Budget

By Eliza Hallabeck

Legislative Education Subcommittee members spent a little over three hours asking Board of Education representatives questions regarding the 2010-2011 school budget during the committee’s meeting on Tuesday, March 23.

The meeting began with school board Chair Lillian Bittman and Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson giving a presentation on the budget, where it began and the steps it went through to be where it is now.

“[Dr Robinson] made a real effort to begin her budget at the very bottom,” said Ms Bittman, adding she was heartened to hear Board of Finance members comment to that effort being obvious when the finance board looked over the school budget.

The 2010–2011 school district’s $69,415,876 budget was approved by the board on February 9, reflecting a 4.8 percent increase over last year’s spending package. On March 8, the Board of Finance reduced the school board’s requested 2010-2011 increase by $2.5 million, leaving the school district with a $679,806 increase for the coming fiscal year.

The council’s Education Subcommittee Chair Mary Ann Jacob asked Ms Bittman and Dr Robinson to respond to having the school board look into having a contingency fund.

“I have actually done lots of research in the last couple days, and the information I have is the board can have a contingency fund,” said Ms Jacob. “What the board cannot do is carry money over year after year.”

When comparing the contingency fund the school board could have with what the selectmen can have, they would be different, according to Ms Jacob. Where the selectmen need the contingency fund to support individual line items when needed, the school board has the flexibility to move funds around.

“I just want to dispel that myth,” said Ms Jacob. After Dr Robinson said she was under the impression the board could not have a contingency fund, Ms Jacob continued. “What I think the confusion is, is the difference between a contingency fund and a general reoccurring fund. A contingency fund is not a fund for either the selectmen or the Board of Ed that you can keep money in year after year.”

At the end of the year, money in a contingency fund would still need to be given back, but an extra line in the budget could be added to keep track of the money.

“That’s something I would like you guys to go back and check, and make sure we are all on the same page,” said Ms Jacob, “one way or another.”

Ms Bittman also updated the council on the negotiations school board member David Nanavaty is overseeing with the district’s individually contracted owner/operator bus drivers.

“We’ve had three meetings so far,” said Ms Bittman. She also said Mr Nanavaty is working toward negotiating with the owner/operators to agree to a contact rate equal to the rate MTM Transportation drivers are paid in the district.

At a different point in the meeting, Ms Jacob asked if changing school bus routes would find extra money in the budget. “You can only beat up [the bus drives] so many times before there is no more money there,” she said.

Teachers’ Contract

Later in the meeting Ms Jacob also asked Ms Bittman and Dr Robinson why the three-year contract negotiated last summer to go into effect in 2010 with district teachers is not being looked at.

“That’s a union we feel strongly about protecting right now,” said Ms Bittman, “because that is a negotiation we just got out of.”

Dr Robinson said if the school board asked to enter renegotiations or asked for more from the contract, legal consequences from being this close to the negotiations could happen.

“The teachers are taking a big hit this year,” said Ms Bittman.

Both Ms Jacob and Ms Bittman agreed they would like to see text book manufacturers switch all workbooks to online programs, but Ms Bittman said the manufacturers are not there yet. Moving toward the future, switches like moving to online programs instead of text books will be one area to save money, Ms Jacob said.

At another point during the meeting, Ms Bittman said 91 percent of the school budget is fixed costs, and where additional cuts will have to be made are teacher positions.

“To me, this is an opinion, the question will be: Is it less intrusive to core education to take out a teacher, a whole series of text books, or to take out maintenance that may cost us more later?” Ms Bittman said.

Speaking about a document shared with Ms Jacob and school board members, Ms Jacob said school board member Debbie Leidlein, who was not present, offered an idea to change two elementary schools to have kindergarten through second grade enrollment and two other elementary schools to have third through fourth grade enrollment. The schools would have the same teacher-to-students ratio currently in the district, but with a decrease in seven teaching positions.

“To me this is out of the box thinking,” Ms Jacob said. “I don’t know if it is the right solution, or if it is possible. But this is the type of solution that will help us meet the needs of the community without cutting seven teachers at the middle school. Again, I don’t know if this is the answer, but I would like to see the board do more of this creative thinking.”

The idea of cutting teachers really bothers people, according to Ms Jacob. Addressing options presented by Dr Robinson at the school board’s last meeting on March 16, Ms Jacob said those were not board-approved solutions, and given to the public too soon would have negative impact.

Ms Bittman disagreed due to previous years where the public wanted more detail on the budget.

“I felt very strongly that we had to lay options out on the table,” Ms Bittman said. “I made it abundantly clear that these were only options. I made it abundantly clear that the board had not seen these ahead of time. I made it abundantly clear that these were only a straw man, a way to get started.”

In the interest of transparency, she said she wanted the school board to come up with other ideas. She added that Ms Leidlein’s idea is extremely out-of-the-box thinking, and closing schools or switching the makeup to schools can be disruptive to communities.

Legislative Council Education Subcommittee member Chris Larocque said he found it interesting the options moved directly to teachers, not positions like library assistants, custodians, or other positions.

“We did,” said Dr Robinson. “We took two people out of central office. To the public that is invisible. That is my problem.”

She also said she took out four requested custodians at the high school, educational assistants, and more in the budget.

“The first cuts were really enrollment based, and I could justify that they won’t hurt us,” Dr Robinson said. “If the money hadn’t been decreased, would I like to add in the districtwide reading specialist? In another type of situation I would trade those spots for something that would advance us.”

The Legislative Council is scheduled a public hearing on the 2010-2011 school budget on Thursday, March 25, in the Newtown High School Lecture Hall at 7 pm, after this edition of The Bee went to press.