Tolland Municipal and Education Consolidation Discussions Moving Forward

Just what services might be shared between municipal and educational departments will take shape over the next three or so weeks.

In an short presentation to the Town Council on Tuesday, Town manager Steven Werbner outlined the options under a state law that allows such a move. 

In essence, the school board is to give the council an itemized spread sheet on costs two months before a formal meeting to set appropriations, Werbner said. 
That does not exactly follow Tolland's budget format, Werbner said, so he improvised and set Feb. 1 as that date. 

After that, the council has 10 days to make recommendations on what could be consolidated, Werbner said. 

The school board can accept or reject the recommendations, but any rejections must be accompanied by written justifications, Werbner said. 

The council and Werbner have been discussing the options for months now and so have education officials. 

The most logical moves toward consolidation would be with facilities, Werbner said. 

There has also been discussion of combining financial systems, but that is a long-term goal, Werbner said. 

Council members Jan Rubino, Ben Stanford and Paul Krasusky were appointed to head up a consolidation committee. They met briefly with Board of Education Chairman Sam Adlerstein and the board's communications committee chairwoman Karen Moran after Tuesday's council meeting.