June 15, 2016 5:00 am
Published by Michael
The Day – Norwich Board of Education makes final budget cuts, eliminating 34 positions – News from southeastern Connecticut Norwich Board of Education makes final budget cuts, eliminating 34 positions
Norwich The Board of Education approved a final budget that eliminated 17 certified public school staff and another 17 noncertified positions to reach the $3.2 million budget cut approved last week by the City Council.
The board voted 5-3, with Vice Chairman Dennis Slopak and members Kevin Saythany and Robert Aldi voting against, and Chairman Aaron “Al” Daniels, Susan Thomas, Yvette Jacaruso, Margaret Becotte and Angelo Yeitz voting in favor.
Member Joyce Werden was absent.
Slopak called it “a shame” that the board voted to approve cutting nearly three dozen staff positions and said it was a step backward for the school system.
He said it might be time for another city charter revision to enact a budget referendum to allow voters to support the school budget.
Tuesday’s vote on the final $75.2 million spending plan, taken with little comment and an air of resignation, affirmed a series of budget cuts and a few increases presented by School Business Administrator Athena Nagel.
The budget is a 1.9 percent increase over this year’s total, but 4.3 percent lower than requested.
Superintendent Abby Dolliver said the district did receive some good news Tuesday, with word from the state Department of Education that the $4 million Alliance District grant application was approved.
The grant has been cut by $187,000, but will fund numerous staffing positions and programs throughout the city school system.
Topped by the 34 full-time positions, the cuts included savings anticipated by expanding in-house special education programs to avoid tuition payments for out-of-district placements and cutting some curriculum supplies.
The certified staff positions eliminated included eight classroom teachers, four instructional specialists, three reading teachers, a science coordinator and a special education student services support position.
The certified position cuts would save a projected total of $560,000, including savings in health insurance and the cost of paying unemployment compensation to qualified staff, Nagel told the Budget Expenditure Committee last week.
Noncertified positions included seven family liaisons, three tutors, three classroom paraeducators, two nurses, a custodian and a technical support person.
Those cuts would save about $160,000, Nagel said.
Several labor unions representing school employees have agreed to requested concessions to offset some of the budget cuts, Nagel said.
Those savings have been incorporated into the final budget, she said.
Most of the agreements call for wage freezes, and non-union employees will not receive raises in the coming year.
The classroom teaching cuts would result in larger class sizes and in some schools, classes with combined grades as was done in other budget cuts several years ago.
Dolliver said the John B. Stanton School is hardest hit by the larger class sizes, because grades with three “moderate sized” classes in many cases were merged into two “larger” classes, Dolliver said.
Two combined grade classes are proposed at the Uncas School, one with second- and third-graders and a class with fourth- and fifth-graders.
Cuts to curriculum supplies, shifting some staff health insurance to grant funding, and cutting expected costs in property and liability insurance would result in more savings in the budget.
But Nagel said there are also new increases to the budget for utility costs, substitute teachers and to purchase equipment and furniture for the expanded special education programs.
No cost breakdowns were available on those items at Wednesday’s budget meeting.
c.bessette@theday.com
