School Board Cuts, Approves Budget

The Board of Education gave the thumb's up Tuesday night to a $79.4 million budget for the next school year that eliminates several positions and teacher stipends.

The budget carries a 1.4 percent increase over the current budget. Supt. of Schools Fran Rabinowitz had proposed a $79.8 million budget that would have increased spending by 1.95 percent.

The approved budget is about a million dollars more than the current budget, an amount board members said is vital to keeping the district competitive.

"We are asking for $1 million more -- that's all we are asking for," board member and Finance Committee chairman John Keegan said. When looking at the big picture, "it's a very small amount of money," he said.

"We don't make investments in our education system and haven't for years," he said of recent school budgets. "Our technology is rapidly aging and we have no way to replace  or upgrade it, and we are continuing down this path indefinitely -- I don't see how it will change."

He voted in favor of the budget, Keegan said, but reluctantly.

"They [the Legislative Council] should undertstand that the one million dollars is an important number to maintain the district," he said.

The budget was previously reduced more than a million from its original form, board member Myron Hul said. 

"The superintendent took out $1.1 million from the staff recommendations," he said. "To have a budget with such a very small increase as this is now really bleeds this district.

"It is a sign of the times," he said, "but it's not right."

The approved budget eliminates 2.5 teaching positions and several clerical jobs. It also eliminates the stipend teachers got for filling in for principals when out of the building.

It includes $75,000 to pay for rink time at the Lou Asterino Rink for activities such as practice time for the Hamden High School hockey team.

It became necessary for the board to foot those costs after the Legislative Council and Mayor Scott Jackson decided last year to privatize the rink, a move that saved the town considerable money but created the need for the school district to pay for the rink time.

This year, the town paid that bill, but next year it will come out of the school budget, something that several board members weren't happy about.

Hul made a motion to take the $75,000 out of the school budget and instead ask the town for a supplemental request.

"This was thrust upon us last year, and if we include it in the general appropriation request, it will get lost -- if the percentage increase we request is not approved, the onus is on us not to touch this," he said. "This supplemental request offers the opportunity to work collaboratively to fund that amount."

But that motion failed after several board members said they feared it would anger town leaders.

"I more than anyone was upset about how this was handled last year -- there was a lot of yelling behind the scenes about this -- but tome it's just picking a fight that we don't need to," said board chairman Michael D'Agostino. "At the end of the day it's the same pot of money and we are all in this together."

But board member Michael Dolan said he remembers specifically promises that the board wouldn't have to foot this bill.

"We were promised by town leaders that we would get supplemental funding for ice rental indefinitely into the future," he said. "Apparently that is now not being contemplated by town leaders."

"I would be shocked it [the council] gave us our allocation and then said, 'here's $75,000 more,'" D'Agostino said. 

The town was smart to privatize the rink, he said, but it did put an extra burden on the board. 

"It was a very efficient move but it put operating costs on us," he said. "I appreciate the spirit of Hul's] proposal but I think this is one of those things where you have to look at the big picture budget and the savings overall."

Hamden High School student representative Sarah Winnick said she never realized how much work went into the budget process.

"I am impressed with the time and dedication everyone putinto the budget," she said. "We had no idea how everyone is working so hard to make sure every penny benefits us -- it is very impressive."