46°
Two days after passing a budget with more than $4 million in cuts, Norwalk school board members and school officials had a range of reactions — from "devastated" to "less harmful" — about the end result.
The school board worked late into the night Tuesday, debating and voting on the cuts that brought its budget down to $155 million. By the end, 33 positions were eliminated and several nonpersonnel expenditures were reduced. Cuts include 10 teachers, two high school housemasters, West Rocks’ assistant principal, central office administrators and security positions at the high schools. (Click here for the full list.)
“I hated doing it,” board Chairman Jack Chiaramonte said of the cuts. “We tried to keep the cuts away from the kids directly.” The board decided not to cut first grade aides, intervention aides, library aides, or the third grade strings program.
The board’s four Democrats voted against the budget. Jodi Bishop-Pullan, who has been on the board for 12 years, said, “This was the worst budget I’ve gone through. I’m devastated by how much was cut. It just wasn’t enough money. You can blame the city or you can blame the unions. In either case, I just can’t condone this budget.”
Bishop-Pullan is especially worried about the high schools. “I’m concerned about the student-to-teacher-to-administrator ratio if we lose the housemasters,” she says. “A lot of the problems that happen in urban high schools can be avoided with the right staffing.”
Chiaramonte said the cuts will take a toll on Central Office. Three top administrator positions were cut: the director of elementary education, instructional specialist for grants and instructional specialist for social studies/grants. “Jobs at Central Office will be more stressful. People will have to do the jobs of two or three people,” he said.
Superintendent Susan Marks said she is also concerned about the “very, very thin” Central Office. “Successful school system need resources in the schools, and they also need resources to support the schools and be responsive to teachers and parents." She said cuts in Central Office affect curriculum development, professional development and administrator evaluations. Nonetheless, she said, "We don't have a choice. There are things that have to get done."
With 10 teachers cut, Marks says she will be paying close attention to class sizes next year.
Steve Colarossi, chairman of the board’s finance committee, said most cuts have some affect on student achievement, however, he said the board was successful in minimizing the impact of the cuts. “I think these were less harmful types of cuts.” He said he sought to minimize the number of people who would lose their jobs by reducing positions of people who were retiring or leaving the district.
Mayor Richard Moccia was at Tuesday’s meeting until the end. He broke two significant ties voting in favor of two elementary assistant principals and against two high school housemasters.
Like Colarossi, Moccia is a satisfied with the results. “This detailed review by Dr Marks' administration and the Board of Ed members resulted in a collaboration that avoided the dire the predictions that some had made about the future of our system,” he said.
Midway through the meeting, when he heard that the board had $2.1 million remaining to cut, Chiaramonte had an outburst about the lack of union concessions. “I thought to myself: That was the amount we would have had if the teachers took a pay freeze," he said of the moment. “They could have saved their co-workers jobs.”
The teacher’s union retirement play yielded $130,000 in savings instead of the anticipated $350,000 from an early retirement incentive package eventually offered by the teachers' unions.
Colarossi also took issue with some of the superintendent’s proposed cuts, especially the elementary school-based ones, and advocated for preserving first grade and intervention aides. “Every study I’ve read says the best way to reduce the achievement gap is to promote early childhood learning.”
Moving forward, Marks plans to work with the board on strategic planning. “Our budget decisions must relate to the needs of the school system,” she said. “They should also be tied to accountability, good teaching and consistency from school to school."
Chiaramonte is hopeful the district will be able to restore both housemaster and the West Rocks' assistant principal positions. Marks said the district is negotiating health insurance contracts that will produce savings. At Tuesday’s meeting, the mayor also suggested nonpersonnel items for possible savings. “We should know about these positions pretty soon,” said Chiaramonte.
Follow TheDailyNorwalk.com on Facebook.
Comments (2)
As a resident who went through NPS and a parent of one who will, I applaud the difficult work the BOE completed in a challenging economic situation.
Our local politicians are investing an inordinate amount of time carefully balancing the needs of all residents to make Norwalk a very dynamic and desirable place to live and raise families. As important as education is, equally important are Norwalk's business environment, public health and safety, infrastructure, parks, sanitation, and senior services.
I haven't lived in Norwalk my whole life having moved around after NHS but I decided to make it my home again because of all that Norwalk has to offer including a reasonable level of taxation and property values relative to neighboring cities and states.
When I hear about shootings and violence, I can't help but think of the excessive tax burdens and failed social programs that have shattered the family unit which otherwise served as the primary guiding principal in a child's development. Despite the failures of our Federal and State governments, Norwalkers could be in a lot worse shape.
When I think about the fact that there are 3 billion people in this world who earn less than $1000 a year, I feel fairly blessed to live in a community where my child can enjoy $15,000 in annual spend. Even if 40% of this money goes into pure overheads, at least some gets to direct education costs eventually.
The biggest thing I fear about the public education system here is the widespread thought and mantra of its leaders within and many of the parents who believe that more money is the solution to education. I want my daughter to understand that her success in life will be a direct result of her own hard work and determination to succeed no matter what the circumstances and not dependent on some government entity.
As for leaving Norwalk, if you are in a position to make a lateral move or even increase your home this is by far the best time to move with nominal interest rates at near zero when you include the effects of inflation and mortgage interest deductions. People who need to sell or downsize unfortunately are the most impacted right now, which is all the more reason that taxes need to be kept low.
So again, kudos to our fearless leaders for making the difficult decisions for the benefit of all Norwalkers and finding a way to increase educational spending again while keeping the growth rate at a sustainable level.
As a resident who was born and raised in Norwalk and now the parent of 2 school aged children I find this a total disgrace.
Our local politicians are not doing enough to invest in the real things that matter in this town, like Education.
Why would anyone move to this town to raise their children with the current state of the education system?
I love this town but, will be moving out as soon as the real estate markets turns around a bit and allows me too.
When you hear of the shootings and violence in the town related to young adults I can't help but, think if the education system in this town were better maybe these individuals would be more interested in being active members of their communities vs. menaces to society.
While redevelopment maybe important to the city growth, development of our city's youth should take a precedent.