Schools Will Remain Open Evenings for Activities

It wasn't something they wanted to do to begin with, and now they won't have to.

School administrators told the Board of Education's Operations Committee Tuesday that they have found away to move money around from other accounts to keep school buildings open past 5:30 p.m.

Supt. of Schools Fran Rabinowitz had proposed closing the buildings early to save money, but even then said it wasn't something she wanted to do.

"It goes against everything I believe in," she said at the time. And Tuesday she reiterated her opposition to her own proposal.

"Our schools should be community beacons and they should be there open for as long as they're needed," she said."It was a very difficult decision to bring forward."

The only reason she made the suggestion is because there were no other options at the time, she said, as the board and administrators deal with the third year of budgets funded at less than 1 percent increases.

With such little wiggle room, educators must keep the emphasis on the classroom, she said, so other items become disposable, however distasteful they may be.

"We have a mission to provide a quality top notch education to our students," she said. But after massaging the budget, postponing some items and having a better handle on how much will be needed for salaries, it is now possible to find the money to keep the buildings open, she said.

Part of the money will come from the salaries account. There is some leeway there because there have been retirements and resignations, she said, and the district has not filled a dozen positions that will now remain open. And custodian overtime also will be reduced, she said.

Some funding will come from repair and maintenance accounts, which means items such as curtains and blind replacements in several schools will go undone. The town also has agreed to pick up the $16,000 cost of a paving project at Church Street School, she said.

Those funding decisions came after several representatives from two town basketball programs implored the board to find a way to keep the buildings open.

Hamden Father's Basketball representative John Lenardo said his program is dependent on the availability of the school buildings.

The program, under the auspices of the town's Parks and Recreation Department, is more than 50 years old and serves youth ages 5 to 17.

"Part of our mission is to keep kids off the streets," he told the committee. The youth involved in the program are all Hamden residents, he said. "Our kids are your kids," he said.

"We are very aware of the budgetary issues, but we are dependent on those buildings," he said. "We are willing to work with you in any way we can to keep this going."

Jack O'Donnell of Hamden Regional Basketball said that about 450 of the 600 youth in that program hail from Hamden. Because that program is not affiliated with the town, it pays the Board of Education fees to use the buildings, and O'Donnell said his biggest concern is that those fees not increase.

"To add additional charges could be our death knell," he said.

All of those who spoke on behalf of the sports leagues said they had been involved with the programs for decades, a fact not lost on Rabinowitz.

"I'm very impressed with the 30 years of coaching on a volunteer basis," Rabinowitz said. "It says a lot about the town of Hamden."

Board members and staff had been very helpful in sending in suggestions as to where to find the money, Rabinowitz said, which helped make the task easier.

Board member Myron Hul said that many don't realize just how much the school district provides the town in terms of recreational opportunities.

"A prior analysis of our spending shows a contribution of $500,000 to the Parks and Recreation Department," he said. "That is a significant part of our budget and one of the unheralded items in our budget.

"We don't just care about the kids from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but also from 5 to 9 p.m.," he said.

"We all felt that closing the elementary schools would be very disruptive to the community," committee chairman Adam Sendroff said. "There are a lot of after school programs, enrichment and PTA events, and I don't think any of us wanted to see that damaged at all."