Schools

Budget Discussion Begins; Changes Made to School Calendar at BOE Meeting

The Board of Education addressed the pay to play athletics program and how it relates to the budget process at the well-attended meeting.

The debate on the school budget got off to an early start at Wednesday night's Board of Education meeting, as parents spoke about their frustration of paying hundreds of dollars in fees for athletic participation.

The school currently has a participation fee of $275 at the high school level and $125 at the middle school level without a cap for families with multiple children or for those who participate in many different sports.

"We feel it's a tremendous and unnecessary burden on administrators and teachers," said parent Robin Shea. "When you're paying hundreds of dollars, when a practice is cancelled or your child doesn't play in the game believe me, it makes a difference."

Find out what's happening in Tollandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Parent Melissa DeLoreto agreed that the program places stress on parents, students and school faculty. 

"I will never vote yes on a budget that does not offer a breadth of programming for students," she said. "You're going to lose all the votes of the parents of student athletes who would normally come out and vote yes for the budget."

Find out what's happening in Tollandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Vice-chairperson Robert Pagoni said that not voting would only make the problem worse.

"You will absolutely shoot yourself in the foot," he said. Board members explained that the chances of reducing any of the fees is unlikely if voters do not turn out to vote to support the budget at the first referendum.

"We have all been ardent supporters of co-curricular activities," board member Gayle Block said. "We can't start charging people to go to English and Spanish and chemistry."

Superintendent William Guzman said that he will present a budget that goes back to the 2009-2010 fiscal year system, when the fee was at $125 at the high school and middle school level.

"My budget is going to have a $125 participation fee and we'll go from there." he said. "I'm asking folks in the audience, don't lost sight of this, because those referendum votes are critical meetings and critical dialogues. They are going to determine what's going to be put in front of the voters on the first Tuesday in May."

The schools also used to cap a family's sports fee expenses at $500, a practice that doesn't exist in Tolland anymore.

Chairperson Andy Powell assured parents that the board will examine the pay to play program again this year.

Also at Wednesday's meeting, the board altered the school calendar to adjust for the ten snow days schools missed due to Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm. The board approved the reduction of the school calendar from 183 days to the state-mandated number of 180 days. They also made February 21 a school day. It was originally slated to be a day off for students.

The school also approved changes to several policies, including the district's safe school climate plan, which involves making the principal of each school (or principal's designee) the safe school climate specialists for their schools, starting in July 2012.

The principals will also create or designate an existing committee for addressing bullying issues in each school, according to the policy included in the agenda. The committee must include at least one parent with a child enrolled in the school. More details on the policy can be found in the board's meeting agenda.

The board also recognized the achievements of the boys and girls cross country teams, both winners of their respective state championships, as well as the 25th anniversary of , which provides a safe graduation party for Tolland seniors. 

Tolland High School's madrigal singers also performed for the board.

The school district is also looking for parents' input on Tolland schools. Parents can take the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) survey on the Board of Education Web site.

The Board of Education meeting scheduled for December 28 was cancelled.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here