The Board of Aldermen will have a lot of public input to digest May 6 when it resumes deliberations on the city’s proposed $110.09 million budget.
And most of that input deals with precisely the scheduled topic for discussion — education spending.
Hundreds of people attended a public hearing on the budget proposal Tuesday night at Shelton Intermediate School. Several dozen spoke about their position on the budget proposal.
Most appeared to be in favor of more education spending.
But a handful of residents countered that sentiment, asking Board of Aldermen to leave the budget proposal as is.
The budget proposal keeps the tax rate steady.
Say Yes To Education
The Board of Education originally requested $66.5 million, but Mayor Mark A. Lauretti included only $63.1 million in his budget proposal in late February.
Parents, teachers and students have flooded Board of Education, Board of Aldermen and Board of Apportionment and Taxation meetings asking for more funding.
They are concerned that the budget proposal — with only $95,000 more money than the current year — will mean the Board of Education will have to lay off teachers and cut spending on sports and extra curricular activities.
Superintendent Freeman Burr told the Board of Aldermen Tuesday that the school system has already made cuts to its budget to help close an anticipated deficit caused by the budget proposal.
Those cuts include savings from 24 teachers taking an early retirement incentive, Burr said.
(Click play on the video to see some of his remarks.)
Say No To Tax Increases
But other residents spoke about the need to keep taxes low to help out residents struggling with unemployment and unmanageable cost increases.
One man, Mr. McCabe (he declined to give his first name) said the parents and students should be pressing the Board of Education to spend its budget more prudently.
“I believe it’s obvious to many tax payers that money is not the answer to improving education,” McCabe said, citing large school districts with high costs and low test scores. “I would hope that most people realize that education starts at home.”
Next Steps
The Board of Aldermen meets again at 7:30 p.m. May 6 and plans to tackle the Board of Education budget at the workshop.
The Board of Aldermen is scheduled to adopt a budget on May 13.
To view all the stories about the Shelton budget proposal, click here.
