Superintendent Presents 'At-Risk' Budget List

Superintendent William Guzman presented a list of at-risk school programs, positions and services at Wednesday night's board of education meeting, which culminated in the school board postponing an approval vote.

Divisions over , which now features a 5.88 percent increase after some adjustments, were apparent in the school board's ranks.

"This isn't going to go through. They're not going to vote for it," Vice-Chair Robert Pagoni said of the current budget proposal, while stressing that he would personally support a higher budget increase than 5.88 percent. However, he said that past history has shown that the town council and Tolland voters would not pass the budget at its current level.

He cited the hard work of many Tolland parents last year to reach out to voters, only to have the budget be slashed at .

"There has never been so many people who pushed so hard for a budget. There was nothing more to be done, and we still lost," he said.

However, a number of board members opposed making any cuts.

"I think the nine of us should be ashamed of ourselves if we cut these things and hand it to the town council," said board member Gayle Block.

Guzman also said that the board of education should approve the current budget, which school district employees have

"Let the parents go to the town council and say this is unacceptable," Guzman said. "You're omitting parents from this dialogue, who entrust their children to us for the best education."

The district is letting parents know what exactly is at risk for Tolland education. The 35-item priority list includes $755,716 worth of staffing positions, technology and more that could possibly be cut if the 5.88 percent increase is not approved.

The list is ranked with the items most likely to be cut at the top of the list, while the more 'essential' items are further down.

The $60,000 allotted to lease-purchase 300 computers is sixth on the list, an item that school district Director of Technology Adam Sher defended at the meeting.

"We have computers being taken off the network because they won't be able to run our version of Windows," Sher said, explaining that some of the district's computers are over a decade old and cannot run current software no matter how they are manipulated. "We will reduce the number of computers available to students."

A third-grade teacher and a first-grade teacher are listed as numbers four and five on the list.

Tolland resident, parent and former school board member Diane Clokey said that parents must become aware of the consequences of budget cuts, since she said they can be directly detrimental to Tolland students. 

"My freshman types, and I have a sixth-grader who does not type," she said, illustrating how staffing and programming cuts have played out for two of her children.

She added that the list, while helpful, does not properly illustrate the effects of cuts on students' education.

"This is important to let your constituents know about. This [the list] doesn't say it. And I don't know the best way to say it."

The school board said it will pursue a meeting with the town council to discuss further budget concerns. 

Guzman also handed out a budget adjustment sheet that detailed how the district has whittled the proposed 5.98 percent increase to 5.88 percent. The adjustments, both positive and negative for the budget, were largely in insurance costs, special education placements, workers comp programs and utilities.

The school board also heard presentations on the new common core state standards, which students in grades 3-8 and 11 will be tested on beginning as soon as the 2014-2015 school year. The new standards are in-depth for each subject and can be accessed on the state Department of Education website.

The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at town hall.