Politics & Government
Board of Education and Residents Speak in Support of School Budget
After three workshops and a public hearing, no major changes to proposed budget planned.
Although more than a dozen people attended Wednesday night's public hearing on the education budget, only a handful took the podium to tell Board of Education members what they think of the .
The first speaker, Monica Mohtasham, spoke on behalf of the Equity in Education Community Partnership (EECP) – a group focused on "excellence and equity in the West Hartford educational system."
Mohtasham said she supports the "small increases in educational improvement" as well as summer curriculum workshops and tutors included in this year's budget, and hopes that "any reductions in the budget will not reduce these areas and others which contribute to reducing disparity among students."
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Paige Kenausis, another Equality in Education Community Partnership member who spoke at the public hearing, echoed Mohtasham's words. "As the budget process continues, please stand firm on expenditures aligned with our greatest challenge for 2012, closing the opportunity gap and establishing schools where students from any culture, race, and background are successful."
Minou Roufail, who also spoke out in favor of the overall budget at Tuesday's hearing before the Town Council, told Board of Education members that she supports the education budget – the roll-over portion as well as the changes represented in the .04 percent program increases.
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Roufail is concerned that taxpayers will approach the education – and overall town – budget increases with outrage. "Of course, some of this paranoia and anxiety involves a fundamental mistrust of government and dislike of the public sector ... I'd suggest that we not cede the public square to the politics of resentment that does nothing to enlighten us about how to better manage town affairs or more productively educate the over 10,000 schoolkids in the West Hartford schools."
Kathy Wilson said that she was surprised at the size of the increase in this year's budget. "What I’d rather see than 4 to 5 percent is 2 to 3 percent. Salaries are within that, but what I see are a lot of things that are out of our control."
Wilson raised a question about the spending for pupil services, which continues to rise while enrollment drops. Although she said she supports the budget, she requested some clarification about the pupil services expenditures.
The final speaker, John Joyce, asked Board of Education members to use more creativity in their overall approach, suggesting that solutions like online courses could reduce staffing needs on the secondary level. "Do all schools need to be WiFi hotspots next year?" he asked board members.
The Board of Education's third and final budget workshop directly followed the public hearing.
Assistant Superintendents Tom Moore and Eileen Howley, as well as Director of Pupil Services Glenn McGrath and Director of Finance and Planning Chip Ward, responded to questions from Board of Education members.
Wilson's earlier question about pupil services – services for students with any of 13 specifically-identified disabilities – was discussed at length.
Although the number of students requiring pupil services is decreasing, "the students that are left in special education are requiring more and more services," Ward said.
McGrath added that the this situation exists not just in West Hartford, but in the state and the nation as the whole. "Children with more severe disabilities such as autism have been increasing exponentially over the past decade," he said.
"Our hope and expectation is that once we are able to bring SRBI [Scientific Research-Based Intervention] fully into play, we will see some of the categories continue to decrease," McGrath said. However, he added that "West Hartford has been a bit of a victim of our own success," with the percentage of students with autism in the school system exceeding the state average by several percentage points.
Howley expressed some concern that the proposed budget does not fully address the need for additional materials required for the implementation of Common Core State Standards. "I worry about the kids who will struggle with these standards," she said. "We're anticipating that trying to meet those rigorous standards for all will require some changes."
In the end, Board members openly expressed their support for the superintendent's proposed budget.
"We talk about this as a roll forward budget. I don’t like that term because roll forward seems like we are just doing what we’ve been doing. That’s not true. Despite that we are maintaining the same budget numbers – not adding back the things we have cut – there is a quiet revolution going on in our schools. It’s not flashy, but it’s quiet and deliberate in the delivery of education services, in the way we are individuating education. This is a maintenance budget, but we are moving forward in certain ways ... This is a maintenance budget that allows us to continue the amazing forward progress," said Elin Katz.
"I am in favor of this budget. Ultimately it’s about the teachers and the classrooms. I would like to be more supportive, to be creative about the things we would like to be doing, but we all know that that’s impossible in this budget environment, in this fiscal environment," said Terry Schmitt.
"Parents demand a lot, and really, we are delivering under the circumstances," added Naogan Ma, who also expressed her support for the proposed budget.
"I still support it," said Board of Education Chairman Bruce Putterman. "Typically at this point we have identified a list of potential cuts that we will vote on budget night, but this year we don’t have any," he said.
The Board of Education is scheduled to adopt the 2012-2013 budget on April 10.
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