Board of Ed Workshop Yields Subtraction and Division

It looks as if the casualties in the latest round of budget cuts for the Board of Education will include 18.1 FTEs (full-time equivalents), a $10,000 reduction in professional development and an almost $20,000 reduction to the freshman mentoring program.

These new cuts were borne out of a request from the Board of Finance that the school board eliminate roughly $1.2 million from its budget proposal so as to allow for a more reasonable mill rate increase (if such a thing exists) in the town's overall budget proposal. Superintendent Dr. Gary Richards said in late January during a budget presentation at Cider Mill School that if the board were forced to make further reductions, it would greatly impact both the student experience and staffing in Wilton, a scenario that began to materialize on Thursday.

"I think [Board of Finance member] Jim Meinhold said it best at the last Board of Finance meeting when he said there's not a lot of fat left on the bone," said BOE chairman Gilmore Bray. Bray was alluding to there being nowhere left for the board to cut but in staffing and program areas.

Perhaps Thursday's most vociferous discussion surrounded whether or not the school system should implement participation fees to help maintain and fund some of its athletic programs. At the heart of that discussion is an ideological difference between some board members in how Wilton's public school system should be run.

Some members believe that implementing a "pay to play" model flies in the face of their charge to provide a free public education to any and all students in town. Richards alluded to this in a memo sent to BOE members earlier this month, where he said that if Wilton were to adopt such a strategy, "it will become a permanent part of our funding structure" and that "in light of serious reservations about the impact of an athletic participation fee...[he] respectfully recommend[ed] that the Board refrain from endorsing such a policy."

Other board members, meanwhile, consider it irresponsible of the BOE to refuse participation fees when the alternative is to cut certain programs altogether.

"As I listen to this, I'm frustrated at being told on behalf of these kids that they can't participate in the clubs and we can't find a participation fee to make that happen," said board member Bruce Likly. "We're making a dictatorial decision on participation fees that says 'you will not have that,'...it's a small group of people making a decision on behalf of a large portion of the population."

Other board members responded to Likly by saying that, in effect, it is precisely the Board of Education's job to make decisions on behalf of the many, which seemed to encapsulate the ideological impasse of sorts the board is now facing. Vice-chairwoman Karen Birck added she believed a cost analysis of participation fees had determined that in order to cover the expenses of their respective programs, the fees would be much too high to be affordable.

There was no such impasse in the vote, however. Despite Likly's contentions that the board was voting on issues without offering the public an opportunity to comment and without one of its members, Jim Saxe, being present, the BOE voted 4-1 in favor of not implementing activity fees.

Likly made two other motions: one to push the vote on activity fees to a meeting where the was an opportunity for public comment (the motion did not receive a second and, thus, failed) and another to reevaluate graduation requirements so that the board would have a chance to look at realigning its non-core curriculum (which also failed).

Instead of Likly's suggestions, which could require serious and time-consuming looks at and shifts in the way the school system is being run, but could also be pertinent considering the current economic environment, the board is more likely to move ahead with the plans presented on Thursday.

Included in these are around $875,000 worth of staff elimination and reduction (18.1 FTEs) that Richards said would affect around 40 employees. The rest of the $1,164,5000 in total cuts will come in less professional development and athletic supplies and materials, what amounts to about a halving of the Freshman Mentor Program and the co-curricular activities offered at Middlebrook and Cider Mill, the elimination of K-8 enrichment, and a $4,000 savings garnered from no longer sending the high school band to away games. The board hopes to enjoy a $50,000 savings in technology by implementing a new virtualization system, which would essentially allow students and teachers to do more work on fewer computers.

The school system is also freezing its non-union employees' wages, but has not yet made any progress in achieving unionized wage concessions.

"We have had conversations," Richards said of potential union agreements. "We hope to achieve some reductions to offset these costs."

The full list of cuts is included below:

Staffing and Benefits

• Eliminate Classroom Teachers (6.4 FTEs) - $380,307
• Eliminate Library/Media Specialist (1.0 FTE) - $74,633
• Eliminate Secretary/Clerical (1.0 FTE) - $45,986
• Eliminate Paraprofessionals (8.7 FTEs) - $241,233
• Eliminate Campus Supervisor (1.0 FTE) - $25,700
• Reduce Custodian salary inc. estimate - $22,450
• Eliminate Part-time clerical position - $16,000
• Reduce/Freeze Discretionary Staff salaries - $50,000
• Eliminate one Athletic Assistant - $3,920
• Eliminate CM clubs (excluding intramurals) - $42,172
• Decrease Health Benefits - $157,365
• Increase Unemployment Compensation - $185,168

Instructional Support

• Reduce Professional Development - $10,000
• Reduce Athletic Supplies and Materials - $7,000

Instructional Program

• Reduce .5 I/L positions - $6,017
• Reduce Freshman Mentor Program - $19,801

Technology

• Virtualize computers (pilot) - $50,000 (addition)

Operations

• Reduce Heating Oil and Diesel Fuel - $104,851
• Savings from Miller/Driscoll Reorganization - $88,453
• Eliminate HS band transportation - away - $3,780

Total

• 18.1 FTEs/$1,164,500
• Board of Education Proposed Budget for FY 2011: $70,291,250 (1.17% increase)