Shelton Aldermen will finalize the city’s 2014 – 2015 budget May 22, and whether the spending plan will include money for the school board to implement full-day kindergarten remains to be seen.
What is abundantly clear, after more than 100 people showed up for a hearing on the budget Wednesday — the majority of parents and residents speaking on the issue want full-day kindergarten.
Even Board of Aldermen President John Anglace agreed with that point after the hearing, but said whether the city can fund the program is another question.
“I don’t think anybody has to be made a convert,” Anglace said. “I don’t think anybody (on the Board of Aldermen) opposes it. It’s all about the money, and examining the dollars and where they’re coming from and how they’re going to be used and trying to make it happen. And that’s what we’re committed to.”
Background
Shelton is the only municipality in Fairfield County that does not offer full-day kindergarten in its public schools.
The majority of school districts statewide offer full-day programs.
Last year a group of parents asked the school board to consider starting it in Shelton.
The school board formed an ad hoc committee to discuss the issue and, in January, approved full-day kindergarten as part of its $3.5 million budget request for 2014 – 2015.
Click here for a previous story.
In March, Mayor Mark Lauretti proposed giving the school district a $2 million increase, side-stepping the issue of full-day kindergarten by noting he “can’t tell (the schools) how to spend their money.”
The school board’s chairman, though, said Lauretti’s number would not be enough for full-day kindergarten.
Lauretti did not attend Wednesday’s hearing.
After reviewing the school district’s request, the Board of Apportionment and Taxation made a number of adjustments to the mayor’s budget proposal that its members said would fund the program
But the Board of Aldermen has ultimate say on the budget.
Click here and here to read minutes of the tax board’s last two budget meetings.
Residents: Please Fund Full-Day Kindergarten
For 90 minutes Wednesday night, resident after resident took to the podium in the City Hall auditorium to endorse full-day kindergarten, and to wonder how, in a city with a tax base as solid as Shelton’s, how it isn’t a reality already.
A total of 22 people spoke during the hearing. All but one asked the Aldermen to fund full-day kindergarten.
Many pointed out the city’s record of delivering annual surpluses in the millions of dollars, dismissing the notion that the city can’t afford to give the school district the money for full-day kindergarten.
Several said they’d recently moved to Shelton from other communities that had full-day kindergarten, and said they’d consider moving out if the city’s schools don’t implement the program.
“It kind of boggled my mind that a community such as this, in Fairfield County, doesn’t have all-day kindergarten,” said Tim Oestreich, a Golden Hill Lane resident who said he moved here with his family from Arizona about two and half years ago, where he noted taxes are a quarter of what he pays in Shelton — “And they’ve got all-day kindergarten.”
Bryan Vasser, a Balsam Circle resident and the father of four daughters, followed Oestreich to the podium.
He said his family moved to Shelton from West Palm Beach, where his twin girls had the opportunity to attend full-day kindergarten.
“And I’ve got to tell you, we really saw the benefit of that,” Vasser said.
He said when his family was planning to move to Connecticut, he and his wife were excited about their children going to school here.
“Now we’re not really so sure, and depending on how things go tonight I’m not so sure that Shelton was the right option,” Vasser said. “It’s a great community with a lot of great things happening, but boy oh boy, all this rhetoric around full-day kindergarten, it seems like a real easy decision to me.”
Mike Sciamanna told Aldermen he had asked his son, a first-grader, at dinner Wednesday whether he thought full-day kindergarten would be a good idea.
The child’s answer was “profound,” Sciamanna said.
“He said ‘You know what, I think some kids in our class really could have been helped and we wouldn’t have to spend so much time reviewing things that we know already,’” Sciamanna said.
Article continues after video.
Beverly Belden, the principal of Elizabeth Shelton Elementary School, was one of several who pointed out that times have changed since she and other adults went to kindergarten.
Children are expected to learn a lot more in kindergarten now than they have in the past, she said.
“Come to my school, to any of our schools … and see what happens on a daily basis in our classrooms,” Belden said. “There is so much to put in a child’s day.”
Click the play button on the video at the top of the story to see Belden’s remarks.
Resident: Schools Get Enough Money
One city resident, Ron Pavluvcik, of Aspetuck Village, spoke Wednesday against giving more money to the school board.
He said the city can’t afford it.
Pavluvcik has found himself in the minority at each of the previous four years’ budget hearings, annually saying it’s more important to keep taxes low than spend more on schools.
Pavluvcik has said previously he represents a silent majority that prefers low taxes to school spending.
He said any extra funds Aldermen find should be put toward tax relief for senior citizens.
A video of Pavluvcik’s remarks is below.
