Council Trims The School Budget By $200,000

By Steve Bigham

At the Legislative Council budget meeting this week, the theme was stewardship and how residents have a responsibility to invest in their community.

At issue is the responsibility to preserve the integrity of the school system and the beauty of the town’s open space. Dozens of residents and a handful of school officials turned out to speak on these two issues.

As the council made clear Wednesday night, it too has a responsibility to the community – to keep taxes from going through the roof. And it voted 8-4 in favor of trimming the Board of Education’s requested budget by $200,000. The move dropped the school board’s proposed increase to $42,413,850 or 7.5 percent, precisely the increase limit the council had requested.

With the proposed tax rate hike already at 2.4 mills, council members said any further increases simply would not fly with the voters.

As for open space, the council is expected to review a $150,000 request for open space by the town’s Conservation Commission next week. At Wednesday’s meeting, several open space supporters urged the council to return the money to the budget, saying it can no longer put the preservation of land on the “back burner.”

Mary Burnham of Walnut Tree Hill Road went one step further Wednesday night, donating $10,000 of her own money to the cause. Mrs Burnham had recently received a large sum of money from a legal settlement of a dispute she had with the Walnut Tree Village condominium complex. She hoped the council would follow suit. Her move received a rousing applause from the 100 or so who attended this week’s meeting in the middle school auditorium.

There was no applause, however, when the council voted to reduce the Board of Education’s budget request. The board had hoped its comments along with those by a handful of school officials might convince council members of just how important the $200,000 was. The school board had already trimmed $600,000 from the proposal. Any further cuts would force the district to eliminate new teaching positions.

“I understand that a $200,000 out of a $42 million budget doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is,” said Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure.

Principals Judy Gallo (Middle Gate), Donna Pagé (Sandy Hook), and Diane Sherlock (Middle School) all gave presentations on how a $200,000 cut would affect class sizes at their school. At Middle Gate Elementary, it means one less second grade teacher and larger classes for the existing teachers to handle. It is the same story in the fifth grade at Sandy Hook, while the middle school may have to endure larger class sizes in the sixth and seventh grades.

School Business Director Ron Bienkowski reminded the council that the school budget is driven by student growth and increased costs – nothing more.

“It’s a status quo budget. There are no initiatives,” he said.

“We’re at the point of diminishing returns,” added Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed. “I believe that what the Board of Education has asked for it sincerely needs. There is no fluff in this budget.”

Voices from the public echoed those sentiments.

However, as it stood, the budget represented an eight percent increase and that was one half of a percent too high, according to the council. The council members took little time in deliberating.

“Last year, we gave the Board of Education what they wanted and it crashed at the referendum,” council member Melissa Pilchard said. “We have to do what the taxpayers want and not just what the people in this room want at this time. It’s up to the Board of Education to decide whether you get the teachers or whether you don’t get the teachers.”

Council member and finance committee chairman John Kortze urged taxpayers to focus some attention on what is in the budget rather than what is not.

Council Chairman Pierre Rochman said the majority of the voters only look at how much their taxes are going to go up.

Dan Rosenthal, Joe Borst, Ruby Johnson, and Doug Brennan all voted against the $200,000 reduction. Those voting in favor were Peggy Baiad, Tim Holian, Mr Kortze, Mrs Pilchard, Mr Rochman, Will Rodgers, Don Studley, and Brian White. 

The school board is now hoping the council will agree to fund $700,000 worth of capital items in debt service. However, the council has already made it clear that it does not want to add to this account, which is already up more than a $1 million due to the payment of the first installment for the 5/6 school and Fairfield Hills borrowing package.

Open Space Supporters

Responding to the selectmen’s decision to cut the $150,000 request for open space purchases, local conservationists came out in full force this week. Judy Holmes, who chairs the town’s open space task force, urged the town to finally put its money where its mouth is.

Task force member Rob Sibley told the council about the state’s matching grants program for open space. However, he said, the money has to be in the budget in order for the town to be eligible for the state matching grant.

Longtime resident and conservationist Al Goodrich said he constantly reads letters in The Bee from people complaining about the development.

“They all say nobody cares, but this task force does care. That’s why I joined it. So I ask you please support us,” he said.

Jane Nickerson read a page from the town’s 1975 proposed open space plan.

“Newtown has managed to retain much of its New England charm and its rural open space character. However, it must be recognized the suburbanization of an area does not occur overnight; it is a long, drawn-out process of gradual transformation. One month a section of stream is piped, the next a forest is cleared, then the farm is replaced by a subdivision, a swamp is filled, etc. No one can point to a specific time or the action which resulted in the change, but 20 to 30 years later the change becomes all too apparent.”

“We’ve not done enough and right now is our last chance,” Mrs Nickerson said.