April 25 Vote Set—

Council Cuts Ed Budget

By Kendra Bobowick

& John Voket

Despite tension-filled pleas from some taxpayers to restore proposed education cuts, the Legislative Council supported its finance subcommittee’s recommendation to further reduce the Board of Education budget by $176,000, as well as the Board of Selectman line item of $100,000. The cuts, if endorsed by voters, would result in an 27.7 mill rate, an additional one-tenth of one percent reduction from finance board’s final recommendation.

A mill is equal to one dollar for every $1,000 in assessed property. The overall budget of $96,522,106 incorporating Wednesday’s roughly $270,000 in overall reductions will face public scrutiny at an April 25 referendum.

Some residents who spoke prior to the vote argued strongly against cuts; Michelle Hankin, argued on the education board’s behalf.

“They put forth a frugal budget, and I want to ask you to defend this budget,” she said. “The schools could really use these funds. Some facilities are really deteriorating.”

She further expressed sympathies for a school district apparently struggling for added funding.

“The schools always have to wait for a good budget year, which never seems to happen…Instead of talking about cuts, let’s look at this as an opportunity to reinvest in schools and move ahead,” she said.

Others made the argument that residents on fixed incomes might find the budget numbers to be too high.

Board of Education chairman Elaine McClure was clearly opposed to “any thought of cutting the budget when we’re trying to run a school district.”

Her comments were terse as she said, “I hope [the council] wouldn’t think of doing that.”

Arguments did not cast enough doubt for the council to change their minds about budget reductions.

More than half the Board of Education and Superintendent Evan Pitkoff attended the final budget deliberations of the council along with several Board of Finance members. Council Chair William Rodgers looked to finance board members’ and education members’ input before closing discussions.

Despite an apparent bow to appeals, an initial motion on the table to reduce funding by $384,000 was later withdrawn.

Members, including Patricia Llodra, were understanding, nonetheless.

She said, “If I were the superintendent or chairman of the board, how would I find the $175,000 to cut?”

Ms Llodra indicated that she would look toward maintenance for reductions, but also had reservations about letting the repairs slide.

“Maintenance is always crossed out,” she said. “We don’t own these buildings, the community does. It is out obligation to keep them up.”

The ultimate Legislative Council motion to reduce the proposed $60-plus million is not the first reduction the education budget has incurred. The Board of Education requested $61.4 million in February. Board of Finance recommendations dropped this number to $61.1. Wednesday night brought additional subtractions, based on the council’s finance subcommittee’s recommendations.

The number educators walked away with was $60,996,154.

Superintendent Evan Pitkoff took the news in stride, adding together the council and finance board’s combined reductions.

“This means we have to find $426,000 to cut all together,” he said. “We have to find cuts and make more changes than I thought there would be this year.”

He explained that the Board of Education had put together a conservative spending plan. “We came in lean this year,” he said.

Explaining the dilemma he now faces, Dr Pitkoff said, “This is going to require a lot of work.”

Much discussion focused on anticipated state reimbursements, which are allocated to all municipalities. As that discussion concluded, the consensus was an approximate $339,000 might be expected from Hartford in coming weeks in the form of energy assistance. During the finance subcommittee meeting Monday evening, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal first revealed that grant would likely be delivered, but would go directly to the Board of Education and would not be restricted for energy use.

Arguments to forego Board of Education reductions if the board promised to reimburse excess grant funds did not sway council members’ decision.

Councilman Fran Pennarola asked, “What would [the Board of Education] do if we approved the budget?”

Finance Board chairman John Kortze expressed confidence that anticipated state funding would be delivered.

He said, “The town has a history of additional revenues and in my history I can’t remember not getting something.”

First Selectman Rosenthal also expressed his confidence in the state legislature, saying “I think there is a very strong sentiment to get money back to the municipalities.” He did mention that specific amounts still remain to be set.

In the end, council members Keith Jacobs and Joseph Borst voted against the recommended cut, but the motion passed.

During the meeting, Mr Jacobs said he wanted to see the school budget restored to the level recommended by the Board of Finance.

“The Board of Education has had to make cuts over the years because of the Board of Finance cuts,” Mr Jacobs said. “It’s finally a chance for them to go forward. I think [restoring the funding] would be a gesture to show the Board of Ed that we support them going forward.”