Restore Funds

To The School Budget

To the Editor:

I may have been one of the “77” and I was definitely among the 350 or so voters that wrote to the Legislative Council last week asking that funds be restored to the Board of Education’s (BOE) Budget. I voted Yes for the first budget but voted No to the second because I could not support the significant reduction made to the BOE budget in the wake of the first failed vote. It is my opinion that the reduction of $1 million to the BOE budget made by the Legislative Council puts the education of this town’s children at great risk.

Throughout this budget season, I have attended many meetings and have become aware of many misconceptions of the public. For example, I learned that enrollment is not down significantly. While we are seeing the beginning of an enrollment decline, it has yet to create the necessary reduction to the number of students in almost every grade to allow for the reduction in resources. According to the latest report, there is just one grade in one elementary school that meets that number.

Additionally, our standardized test scores are going in the wrong direction almost across the board. We also need resources to prepare for the upcoming NEASC audit in 2015. It was an audit like this one that put our high school’s accreditation at risk. We’ve only recently been taken off of warning status (this could have led to loss of accreditation); it would be horrible if we ended up back there again.

I have also been paying close attention to the remarks made by the BOE with regard to this $1 million reduction. I have attended meetings and viewed video of the BOE chair’s comments that this reduction will make it difficult to implement new programs such as full-day kindergarten if existing programs would be negatively impacted. I think it is safe to say that with $1 million less than what the Board of Education, through their own vetting process, established they needed to adequately fund the school system, many existing programs will be at risk. Keep in mind that before the Legislative Council’s $1 million cut, there had already been approximately $2 million cut from this budget by the BOE and the Board of Finance.

I recognize that the Legislative Council is in a tough spot as they had heard from a number of voters before making that $1 million reduction that the budget was too high. I am hoping letters like these will help them understand that there were a number of voters who didn’t agree, and that there is a growing number of voters who are only now beginning to realize the seriousness of this situation. I will continue to vote No until funds are restored to the BOE budget, hoping that this will give the Legislative Council time to correct this situation and provide adequate funds for our children’s education.

Michele Assante

Wendover Road, Newtown                                                May 23, 2012