Bridging the Gap Between Parents and the School Board

There's no denying that the budget process can be contentious in Tolland. But at least some of the tension can be attributed to a lack of communication after portions of are altered in May or June, according to some Tolland parents.

"It's frustrating when we're fighting for something now, and we find out later that we didn't get it," said parent and Tolland Elementary PTO President Karen Moran. 

Fellow TEPTO member Sheila Leach said that she has sometimes only learned of programming cuts after her daughter's first day of the school year at TIS.

"We don't have technology this year. We have keyboarding by a para [paraprofessional] during lunch," Leach said of a cut to the technology program at the intermediate school. "That's never communicated to us. What's the impact to our kids? What has been cut?"

Cherita Gay, whose child is in kindgarten, said that a lack of communication can put parents in a difficult position.

"If there's not a technology program or a music program, you're expecting a lot more," she said. "With no advance notice, or notices that may be a month in advance, then you have to worry about getting into outside programs."

While the responsibility for cuts can largely be placed with voters who approve the final budget numbers, the timing of the school board's cuts can be due to uncontrollable circumstances.

"You can get about 90 percent of it right up front," said Tolland BOE Chairperson Andy Powell, saying that the unexpected cuts can stem from that final 10 percent.

"You can't spend more, but you can work within that," he said. "There's more fluidity because we have more people. We're continually working on tightening the model up." 

Powell said that the Tolland school district has about 500 employees. He also said that clear communication is important to the board.

"We'll do a better job at communicating. We expect as part of the budget delivery to the town council to deliver a prioritization or an impact statement of a reduction in our proposed budget," Powell said.

Superintendent William Guzman said that the board's cuts are included in the minutes of the meeting, posted online, and are also distributed to audience members who attend the June meeting.

"If they're going to make their decisions later, what's at stake?" Leach asked. "Nobody knows."

However, Leach sympathized with the difficulty of the board's fluid budget.

"I feel for them, because you're shooting in the dark. But we're not the only town that has to work around that," she said.

Connecticut Association of Boards of Education spokesman Nick Caruso confirmed that Tolland's budget problems are hardly unique, with many schools dealing with fluctuating budgets.

"Nothing really is solid until there's a final disposition," said Caruso, speaking about an average school budget. "When you know what your final allocation is, it's probably 80 percent refined even when they [the board members] vote to pass something."

CABE works with local and regional school boards, and has 151 district members, according to its website. Tolland is not a member of CABE, according to Caruso.

Caruso said that some of the difficulties also arise due to uncertainty about state or federal funding. He said that school boards sometimes do not know what level of funding the legislature will provide until July, after the June 30 budget deadline has passed.

Rising expenses can make school budgets difficult to sell, Caruso added.

"Status quo is not a zero percent increase," he said, calling current state education funding formulas "flawed."

But for some parents, the larger issue lies not just with communication but with what they say is a clear atrophy of the quality of Tolland schools.

"We moved to this town three years ago because we looked at the school system," said Nicole Canavan. "The fact that we're cutting foreign languages from middle school, that's concerning. My child at Birch Grove had technology, and at TIS there's no technology offered." *

Powell echoes those concerns.

"The money that you spend on taxes in Tolland impacts you more than your state and federal taxes," he said. However, he said the board doesn't put together its budget thinking about taxes. Instead, he said, the only focus is what the children of Tolland need for their education.

"We weren't elected to increase or decrease anybody's taxes," he said. "We are the overseers of the educational system in Tolland."

And while some budget confusion may remain in town, it is possible to find the information that parents need.

Tolland resident Linda Byam has been directly affected by budget cuts; her family paid an estimated $1,700 last year for her two sons to . She said that she has actively tried to stay informed about the school budget.

"I knew that the $125 fee and the $500 limit had been removed," she said. "I try to stay in the loop because it affects me." Byam said she gets her information from reading up on local news and also receives the Friends of Tolland Schools newsletter.

Tolland residents can also get detailed information on the proposed 2012-2013 budget on the Tolland schools website. The board's agendas and minutes are also available online.

At the time of publication, the school board had not yet approved the superintendent's proposed budget.

* Editor's Note: The world language positions at the middle school level are included in the new budget, since grant funding for the positions is gone after this year. Without the positions, world language will not be provided at TMS, according to budget workshop discussions.