As the saying goes, history has a tendency to repeat itself. The events taking place right now encapsulate this proverb to a tee.
Almost exactly two years ago, I spoke against the tax cut that would leave the Ansonia School District under budget. I expressed great concern that our schools would lose incredibly passionate and adroit educators, and unfortunately, that has started to happen.
It is no secret that Ansonia Public Schools are hurting. I wrote about this during election season, and I have no intentions of giving up my support for the next generation of leaders that the Ansonia School District is molding. As I previously mentioned in another article, the Ansonia School District has been being drastically underfunded for years in support of the uncontrolled spending the City Hall is doing. As Alderman Tripp mentioned at the budget hearing, City Hall is now trying to patch the hole in the sinking ship by taking money away from the school district.
Instead of listening to the public outcry, City Hall and the Board of Education will now have a costly legal battle, wasting more money, and belittling taxpayers.
As Alderman Tripp said in his erudite speech, taking away money from the Board of Education isn’t only wrong, it is also illegal. Just because the school district received more state funding than anticipated, that doesn’t mean that City Hall has the right to dip its hand into their money.
So did this hearing have any effect? Well, according to the Chair of the Board of Apportionment and Taxation (BOAT), no, it didn’t. The board is still going to go through with its original plan to take away the money, forcing the Board of Education to sue for what is rightfully theirs.
This seems to be becoming a frightening trend with City Hall, and it seems like these hearings are set up only to make taxpayers and residents feel like they have a say, and they have control of what is going on in their city. The harsh truth is, it seems, is that the city just doesn’t care.
Now that’s not to say that the Board of Education is completely off the hook here. What I would like to see from their end of the deal is a reconciliation of their budget. The Board of Education should look into where their money is going, what’s working, what’s not working, and readjust accordingly. A budget reconciliation can be very good for the Board of Education.
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