What’s the price of success?
For Ansonia schools, $2.2 million.
Put another way: that’s 10 teaching positions, eight tutors, eight part-time interventionists, two school administrators, a bevy of support staff, middle school sports, freshman sports at the high school, and more.
School officials said they’re planning such cuts because of the city budget adopted this week.
On Monday, the Ansonia tax board approved allocating $27 million for the school district. However, it’s simply not enough money, school officials argued.
The district is in a Catch-22. It had been receiving state grant money to the tune of $2.2 million, in part because of the district’s poor performance. The school district used the money to improve learning — as proven by better test scores.
The grants lost are as follows:
Priority School District: $585,369
Ed Jobs Fund: $878,912
Title I: $15,427
Title IIA: $27,670
IDEA ARRA 611: $112,381
Reduction in Carryover*: $632,400
TOTAL: $2,252,159
Now, the school district is performing better — and the grant money is gone.
The school district had been asking for $27.8 million from the city. They’re receiving $27 million — which is still a 2 percent increase over the school’s district’s current budget, but roughly $800,000 short of what school officials said they needed.
After Monday’s vote, Superintendent Carol Merlone said the resulting cuts would be “devastating.”
‘Profoundly Negative’
The school district issued a press release Tuesday afternoon on the school district’s website detailing planned cuts, saying they’ll have a “profoundly negative” effect on the city’s schools.
Read the document below for details on what the school district is cutting. Article continues after.
Click here to see how residents are reacting to the news.
Assistant Superintendent Anthony Gasper said Wednesday that school officials would be sending out layoff notices at the end of the week to 24 people unless they receive word of others retiring.
“If we have any last minute retirements, then that might save an individual’s job,” he said. “Last minute retirements are really the only thing that would cause a change in our plans.”
A teacher may do so at any time in accordance with the union’s agreement with the city, Gasper said. “There’s nothing in the contract with teachers that rewards or penalizes them for giving us notification at a particular time.”
Any action taken would be reviewed by the school board at its next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. June 6 in Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall.
“They’re aware of the actions that we need to take,” Gasper said of the board. “They’ll make the final approval at their board meeting.”
State To The Rescue?
Officials hope the school reform initiatives recently signed into law by Gov. Dannell P. Malloy may mean more funding for school districts like Ansonia and Derby.
But any such money can hardly be relied upon.
After the 2012 – 2013 budget was adopted Monday, Mayor James Della Volpe issued a written statement urging the school district to determine if extra state aid can be found in the recently-adopted education reform initiative.
That bill is supposed to provide extra cash for school districts such as Ansonia.
“I call upon the school system leaders to determine what additional funding may be available for our students in the recently enacted state educational reform law just passed,” Della Volpe wrote in the statement.
“We cannot afford to pass up any reasonable opportunity to gain additional outside funding.”
However, school officials point out there have yet to be assurances as to when the city will receive the money, or if they’ll ever receive it in the first place.
Gasper said he spoke to a contact at the state’s Department of Education Wednesday who told him such money wouldn’t be like the Educational Cost Sharing funds provided by the state to school districts, which gives them discretion to spend how they see fit.
“It’s not cash in hand,” he said. “It’s something that you have to apply for and agree to spend in a way that the commissioner (of education) will approve of.”
Further, he said, “They’re not expecting to have the criteria for that out for at least a month or more.”
Della Volpe declined comment Wednesday, saying he had not had a chance to review the information posted on the school’s website.
Messages were left with the co-presidents of the union representing Ansonia teachers.
The city’s budget finalized Monday is posted below:
