A year after Ansonia school officials eliminated 24 positions in the wake of budget shortfalls, the district is once again preparing for layoffs.
Thirty-eight school employees were put on notice last month that their contracts may not be renewed for 2013 – 2014.
Superintendent Carol Merlone said Monday (April 1) that the layoffs, which have become “a yearly routine,” would be devastating if not averted by the city adding money to next year’s school budget.
“Honestly, we’ll be immobilized,” she said. “I don’t know how we’re going to open the doors.”
The Board of Education voted unanimously at their March 13 meeting to have Merlone inform the 38 employees their contracts would not be renewed for 2013 – 2014.
Click here to read the minutes from the meeting.
That doesn’t necessarily mean 38 people will lose their jobs.
Last year the school board voted to send the same notices to more than 40 employees, while 24 positions were eventually cut after the city finalized its budget.
Merlone said administrators haven’t analyzed which specific programs will be hurt the most if school funding remains as recommended by Aldermen in February.
Background
The school district’s budget for this year is $27 million.
The Board of Education in January asked the city for roughly $1.8 million more for 2013 – 2014.
About $410,000 of the proposed increase was for grants the school district expects to lose and asked the city to cover.
The requested increase also included $624,237 for employee benefits, $437,145 for tuition, a cost connected to special education, $221,427 in transportation cost increases, and $142,119 in salary increases.
In February Aldermen voted unanimously to pass a budget to the Board of Apportionment and Taxation which includes an increase for school spending of $540,000 — about $1.3 million less than the school board requested.
Aldermen at the time said it was the best they could do in light of tough financial circumstances.
‘Disaster’ Ahead
A public hearing on the spending plan is scheduled for May 13 at 7 p.m. in City Hall. The tax board will then meet May 20 with a view to finalizing the budget.
“I plan on doing a lot of praying between now and then,” Merlone said. “Based on past years, I don’t have much hope.”
Click here to read about last year’s layoffs.
“I understand the economic situation of many districts getting level-funded and getting minimal increases,” Merlone said. “However, it’s been a period of so many years for Ansonia, much longer than other districts, that we just don’t have anything. We don’t have the resources to start with.”
James Gaskins, the district’s business manager, said during Thursday’s board meeting that even this year’s budget picture is getting tight.
Still, he said, “as dismal as this year looks, next year is a disaster.”
Officials are looking to save money on everything from obvious big ticket items like health insurance to smaller components, like recently changing the custodial uniform contract to save a few hundred dollars, he said.
Alliance Money
But wait — didn’t Ansonia schools get a bunch of money as part of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s education reform measures?
Ansonia did receive an extra $539,700 in 2012 from the state’s “Alliance District” program, which targeted 30 underperforming school districts throughout the state, including Ansonia and Derby.
But the money came with “strings attached” — It had to be used for programs approved by the state education department that weren’t already in existence.
Ansonia school officials said in January the alliance grants were somewhat off-putting, because it essentially meant creating plans just to get the money. The district had already been planning and executing plans to improve student performance, they said.
“They dictate how it’s spent,” Gaskins said at Thursday’s meeting. “That’s like buying new sails on a sinking sailboat. The hull has holes in it and we’re sinking, we’re not meeting our fixed costs.”
Next Steps
Asked Monday if the layoffs could be prevented, Merlone said the schools are waiting to see what happens with the city budget.
A message was left with tax board Chairman Richard Sturges Monday.
Mayor James Della Volpe said Monday many of the city’s own numbers are up in the air because of question marks surrounding the state budget, which is still being debated.
“We have no inkling as to what we’re going to get from the state right now,” Della Volpe said. “Hopefully (the state budget) is done before we do ours.”
The city relies heavily on the state for funding, especially for education.
In the current year the state’s Education Cost Sharing grant to the city totals more than $16 million.
Della Volpe, who during February’s Aldermen’s meeting called the budget the most difficult one he’s dealt with in his 14 years as mayor, said it hasn’t gotten any easier in the weeks since.
“I don’t want to see anybody laid off,” he said Monday. “It doesn’t help to improve our educational processes.”
The mayor said Gov. Dannel Malloy, who visited an Ansonia elementary school last week for a discussion with teachers and administrators, is aware of the city’s problems.
“The governor says he’s got his eye on Ansonia,” Della Volpe said. “He understands the situation we’re in. He’ll try to help us out in any way he can.”
