Local School Administration

Is Not Bloated

To the Editor:

The Legislative Council has forced through a $734,000 cut to the Board of Education budget which will cause the loss of at least 18 and at most 38 education assistants (EAs), two behavior therapists, school supplies and equipment, a social worker, a third grade teacher and a first grade teacher. I am voting No and I hope you will also.

Members of the Legislative Council state that these cuts are because the Board of Education is hiring an assistant principal at the high school instead of keeping these EAs. In truth, this is all due to the actions of the Legislative Council.  The Legislative Council has created this situation. The Legislative Council has demanded a $1.1 million cut in the budget. The Legislative Council has demanded that 70 percent of this cut come from the education budget. The Legislative Council is forcing this choice. Newtown needs an assistant principal, education assistants, and teachers. Let’s look at the data.

The last published Strategic School Profile of 2008-2009 indicates our per student administration and support services costs in Newtown were $1,106 per student. The District Regional Group B average was $1,342 per student and the state average was $1,369 per student. So the numbers show we are not overspending on administration.

The above information is a couple of years old, and I wanted more current info. I took the total number of students enrolled in the 2009-2010 school year and divided it by the of total number of administrators in 2010. All of this information is from the Connecticut Department of Education website. I did this for all the districts within our District Regional Group B.

Of the 20 districts within our DRG B, Newtown had the least number of administrators per student, therefore Newtown is the most efficient district in terms of administrators per student. Newtown has 241 students per administrator. Simsbury has 28.3 administrators for 4,865 students which means 172 students per administrator. Madison has 20.8 administrators for 3,635 students or 175 administrators per student. West Hartford has one administrator for very 184 students. Glastonbury has one administrator for every 180 students. Newtown on the other had has 22.8 administrators for 5,490 students. Consequently, Newtown has one administrator for every 240.79 students. This does not sound like a bloated administration.

So why are members of the Legislative Council stating otherwise? Because they want to blame the cut in educational assistants and teachers on the Board of Education and Dr Robinson and not where it belongs, which is at the feet of the Legislative Council.

The Legislative Council created these cuts by demanding a $1.1 million cut in the budget with 70 percent coming from the school budget and 30 percent coming from the town. Where did these numbers come from? All of this is based on one of the lowest voter turnouts on record. Please vote No and tell the Legislative Council you want a smaller cut to the school budget.

Charles Hepp

4 Winter Ridge Road, Sandy Hook                                    May 4, 2011