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NORWALK, Conn. – The much-feared "deep cuts" in Norwalk's school budget got the go-ahead Thursday evening in a nearly unanimous vote of the Norwalk Board of Education.
Superintendent Susan Marks' latest revision of the 2012-13 budget received a yes vote from each member in attendance at the special meeting in Concert Hall except for Steven Colarossi, who had presented his own budget. Artie Kassimis and Migdalia Rivas were not present.
Although board members agreed the "deep cuts" are painful, they voiced hope that some might be reversed. Mayor Richard Moccia is in talks with the Board of Estimate and Taxation, and there are ongoing talks with the Norwalk Federation of Teachers, according to board member Mike Lyons. Moccia said the state delegation is trying to expedite Medicaid payments to Norwalk, a reference to the special education portion of the budget.
Marks said that if there is additional revenue, her priority would be to send the resources to the elementary schools.
The brevity of the meeting – just more than an hour – drew scorn from one observer, who said it had been a done deal before the meeting was brought to order.
The passed budget is similar to previous versions, with minor revisions.
More details will be forthcoming from The Norwalk Daily Voice.
Comments (21)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuwt-HwHNJg
Love the video Jeff!
The Board of Education has been resistant to change
for too many years.... they have rejected consolidation
within and with the city. Too, mr. Mellion has continually
challenged the board and the city.
The cuurent situation iis a result of many years of less than
competent management.
Unfortnately it is now time for all the taxpayers to pay the
piper. Perhaps Mr. Mellion will listen to his membership
rather than file Unfair Labor practices. He is apparently
prepared to sacrice teachers, against their own wishes,
to feed his ego !!!!
Higher taxes or union concession - it seems fairly cut-and-dry to me. Unfortunately, the drastic cuts have taken the focus away from the real problem and pitted individual interests against each other. People need to step back and look at the problems before challenging the "resolutions.". The teachers give so much to our children but the have been insulated from the economic realities for too long.
Very sad. Very, very sad.
With my first child entering kindergarten in August - this is absolutely gut wrenching to see that this proposal is being passed.
Someone else made a comment that the majority of the Board looked absolutely uninterested in what the public had to say at the open meeting on 6/11. I would have to echo that. The Board looked completely uninterested, the biggest offender being Susan Marks. Why call a meeting like that if you're going to show a blatant disregard for what people have to say?
As a 15-year resident of Norwalk, I'm disgusted.
I'll also be picking up a newspaper this weekend and start looking for a new home elsewhere.
@Tarisita
I'm sorry to hear you'll be leaving Norwalk. Regarding the BoE, I think your anger is somewhat misplaced. The BoE are an elected body who can only spend as much as they are given by the Board of Estimate and Taxation. I suspect most of the BoE members ran for that thankless office because they care about education, they don't WANT to make cuts but at the end of the day the budget has to balance. Quite possibly the cuts are just as gut-wrenching for them as they are for you, in fact even more so, because they have to face angry parents while knowing that there's no choice because the money simply isn't there.
Hopefully the Teachers Union will come to the table, the City will find a way to free up some additional funds, and between the two at least some of the cuts can be averted. There's still plenty of time for that to happen.
Thanks... :)
The only anger I felt toward the BoE was really that I just felt insulted (for everyone that attended) that the Board looked bored out of their minds at the open meeting on the 11th. An acquaintance of mine happens to be on the Board and when I see him I'm going to tell him that his yawning kept making ME yawn! I still don't understand why that's contagious.
But I digress. I don't know what the solution is and I'm sure that, especially being volunteers, the BoE members are also very frustrated what with getting so much blame.
They do have a difficult job, and I would not want to be in their (as you very accurately described 'thankless') position.
"Something's Gotta Give"..... not sure what that is, but this is a really sad, unfortunate situation all the way around. I don't want to uproot my family and leave Norwalk, but with the preposterously high taxes, this whole budget issue and the INSANE amount of crime (someone recently referred to Norwalk as the new Bridgeport - and I'm afraid they may be right), I'm sitting here scratching my head trying to figure out why it is I would want to stay here and raise my 2 small children in this environment.
The taxpayers have said Enough. We pay a fortune for our schools. Do a better job and then ask for more money.
Although the meeting was a short one and concern was expressed on its brevity, seems to me that there were many meetings running until late into the night. Times are tough people - the structure of so many things is "broken". Currently, states are $1.38 trillion (I don't even know the abbreviation for trillion) underfunded in their public sector pension commitments.
@rickaroo
You're right, it's time for reform and I'm curious to know exactly where Norwalk stands with regard to pension obligations and what the plans are to get control of this ballooning expense going forward. In the absence of a plan there will probably need to be more cuts to schools.
I think I saw the same sobering article that you did which mentioned the $1.38 trillion nationwide shortfall in government pension funds. For anyone who's interested, here's a link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47873171#.T-ROYpjhcUo
That same article mentioned that the state of Connecticut had one of the worst-funded state employee pension plans in the nation. So in addition to any issues in Norwalk, we will have to pay for CT state government's pension shortfalls as well. In other words, forget about more ECS funding, AND get ready to pay higher state taxes as well.
I agree with you that there are structural issues at the state and local level which are badly in need of reform. A great start would be replacing defined benefit plans with 401k plans for new employees, which is something that that the private sector did about 20 years ago in response to cost pressures that governments don't have, because governments simply tax their way out of shortfalls. At some point, though, the voters say enough, and I think we'll be there very soon if we're not there already.
Part of each contract negotiation with existing municipal employee unions should include switching from defined benefit plans to hybrid plans, so that prior commitments are honored but going forward municipal workers contribute to their own retirement plans, and Norwalk's ability to provide essential services isn't further hobbled by pension costs.
Norwalk is a circus, and it is run by a bunch of clowns!
I feel compelled to ask what was so important that two board members were absent for perhaps one of the most important votes in BOE history....
I was there at the start of the meeting when I received a phone call from wife telling me that my daughter was being taken to the ER. I excused myself from the meeting to be with my family.
Sorry to hear that - I hope that your daughter is ok.
Thank you for your concern. She plays travel softball and became a little dizzy from the heat. She misjudged a fly ball and caught it with her bare hand. She has a fractured thumb which is in a cast at the moment.
I was told that Migdalia Rivas had a family emergency. I believe they said Artie Kassimis was in the ER with a family member.
This is just typical of this administration
Time for a recall election of MOCCIA..
ZERO LEADERSHIP
This is so sad! I guess that Golf Course is more important than our children! Crying for all the wonderful staff members who will no longer be there to support our schools. And I believe this was going to get pushed through no matter what. I saw how the board acted when parents talked. Like they could care less. The poor kids.
Dr Marks didn't even know the answer to any questions and also didn't even know the 4 largest elementary schools.She is a joke! She must go!!!