School Board Trims Proposed Budget

By Susan Coney

Members of the Board of Education approved a reduction in the superintendent’s budget proposal of $594,424, or 1.04 percent, on February 9. At a previous school board meeting on January 31, Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff presented a proposed budget for the 2006-2007 school year of $62,016,578, representing an 8.92 percent increase over last year’s budget.

One of the largest items removed from the proposed budget fell in the area of transportation, where board members chose to eliminate two of the three proposed buses included in the superintendent’s budget, at a savings of $145,684. An additional cut of Middle Gate School personal computer conversions eliminated $149,000 from the budget.

Other larger ticket items such as the lead custodian, at a cost of $71,764 with benefits, and the high school dean position, at a cost of $77,697 with benefits, were cut from the budget, reflecting a savings of $149,461. The elimination of a technology specialist created a savings of just over $64,000.

Additional cuts were made from areas such as building improvements to be done in the laundry building and the maintenance garage located in Fairfield Hills adjacent to Reed School.

During the public participation portion at the beginning of the meeting, Newtown resident and bus driver Paul Miles said that he believed it was a waste of money to add additional buses. “We need to have someone come out to ride the buses and see what the needs really are. We don’t need three additional buses. I’d rather see that money going to educating the kids. We need to realign the buses for the difficult spots,” Mr Miles said.

Board member Lisa Schwartz said, “The annual budget is somewhat distasteful. I can only separate it and judge each item on its own merit. We are charged as advocates for our students.” Later in discussion Ms Schwartz asked, “How did we arrive at the need for three buses? I’m trying to find a way to validate the need for three buses.”

Information was provided by school officials and Director of Transportation Anthony DiLonardo showing that portables placed at the high school would eliminate parking spots and increase ridership. Also the graduating senior class consists of 389 students while the eighth grade class entering the high school in the fall will have a student enrollment of 430. Projections show there will be an additional 44 new students attending the high school in the fall as well.

Showing signs of frustration at the lack of solid information to prove the need for the addition of three buses at a cost of $196,289, board member Paul Mangiafico said, “I don’t see a case for adding any buses. I can’t judge anything based on ‘we’re kind of full or we are near capacity.’”

When a vote was taken to approve the addition of one bus rather than three, Mr Mangiafico was the sole dissenter. “We just added one bus without seeing any data,” he said.

Throughout the budget meeting Mr Mangiafico cautioned fellow board members to be cognizant of the fact that the school budget has to be acceptable to others.

Board member Andrew Buzzi commended the principals and staff for putting together a thorough and responsible budget. “There is nothing frivolous about this budget. We need to weigh it with other needs of the town and weigh the impact on the taxpayers. There are some things in this budget that can’t be done this year,” he counseled.

Fellow board member David Nanavaty said, “There is nothing I want to see eliminated from the budget. I’d like to put back what the superintendent took out. What is most important is the direct effect to student activity. We have to be cognizant to minimize the impact to the taxpayer. The most looming is the high school situation. And I for one haven’t forgotten about the Hawley HVAC project.”

Board members voted to install new computers at the high school at a cost of $79,053, justifying the addition by acknowledging the need for older students to have access to the most advanced technology. The need for more technology at the high school was also emphasized as a weakness in the state accreditation report provided by the New England Associations of Schools and Colleges; by providing additional computers school officials are attempting to remedy that situation.

School officials wrestled the addition of a third assistant principal to the high school at the cost of $129,861, pondering if the position was justified, and eliminating the dean of students position, for a savings of $77,697. Information provided by Assistant Superintendent Alice Jackson and high school Principal Arlene Gottesman showed that there is a need for an additional assistant principal to help with teacher evaluations, a time-consuming requirement that must be done by a certified administrator. The dean of students position is not an administrative one. While both Ms Jackson and Ms Gottesman praised the performance of the current dean of students, it was decided the addition of an assistant principal was the more necessary of the two.

Board member Thomas Gissen noted that with the high number of younger teachers at the high school, an additional assistant principal could provide more guidance and direction. “I think the position is overdue and if you got the right person in, it could be a real help,” he said.

Board Chairman Elaine McClure stated, “I feel very strongly we need the assistant principal even if we need to remove the dean.”