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A sign held by Sennea Raslan outside a June 5 meeting at Ansonia High School.
Ansonia public schools will be open through June 12, at least.
Finals scheduled for next week will happen.
Graduation has not been canceled.
But what happens after June 12 depends on a judge.
Those were some of the highlights during packed meetings Tuesday night at Ansonia High School, where a school board lawyer took questions from the public regarding the school district’s budget crisis.
Earlier Tuesday, a public relations firm working with the school board issued statements saying that Ansonia Public Schools could be closing as soon as Wednesday because of a funding dispute with city hall.
That information caused hundreds of people to show up, including students wondering if their final exams were still happening. The press release also attracted hordes of TV media.
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Hundreds of people attended a meeting at Ansonia High School June 5 regarding school funding.
Eventually Frederick Dorsey, the lawyer, said June 12 was actually the important date, because that’s when the school board is scheduled for a “show cause” hearing in Derby court.
The Ansonia Board of Education has a lawsuit pending against the city because the Board of Aldermen took $600,000 from the school budget in January.
City officials, including the tax board and the Board of Aldermen, said the money was taken away because the school district received more state aid than expected.
School officials said the move violated state law — and they have two letters from the state’s department of education backing them.
At 10:30 a.m. June 12, the school district, which will be out of money by that point, will ask a judge to force the city to continue to cut checks so school can continue until the last day (June 18) and that teachers can get their pay.
“The Board of Education is asking a judge to tell the city to provide the funds to pay the bills that are necessary in order to keep the school open for the remainder of the school year,” Dorsey said.
The Valley Indy live-streamed Tuesday’s meeting. Click play on the video below to watch.
If the judge doesn’t approve the injunction, that’s another story.
Dorsey repeatedly put the onus on city hall during Tuesday’s forum, saying the school district will continue to open its doors — but the paychecks issued to teachers may bounce unless the city kicks in.
The school board will meet again June 13 regardless of what happens in court.
The lack of clear answers during Tuesday’s forum left many people in the audience frustrated.
One was a high school sophomore who simply wanted to know if she should study for her scheduled finals.
Dorsey said finals scheduled for next week and graduation are scheduled to go forward.
“We know we can do the graduation, we know we can open the doors in the morning if the employees come,” he said.
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Frederick Dorsey, a lawyer representing the Ansonia Board of Education, talks during a meeting June 5.
The school board also plans to keep the schools open for 180 days, as required by state law.
“The board of education intends to meet that requirement,” Dorsey said.
Several residents asked why the district was suddenly saying the last day of school could be June 6 — when the Aldermen “illegally” took the $600,000 from the schools back in January.
Jeremy Musnicki, who said he’s a parent to three children in the city’s public schools, wondered about what seemed a lack of foresight by the schools.
“If you knew back in January that you were going to be short money, what did you do to rectify it other than get all the parents upset and aggravated?” Musnicki asked as many in the crowd applauded.
“It’s the same stale BS that’s been going on for years,” he said.
Dorsey said the school district has cut spending where it could while trying to get money back from the city.
Now it’ll be up to a judge to tell the city it should give the school district the $600,000, he said after noting that school officials have received two letters from the state supporting its position.
“That’s the only individual we can go to. We’ve gone to the state Department of Education,” he said. “They’ve written two letters to the city saying ‘You can’t do what you did. Undo it.’ That hasn’t worked.”
Even if a judge sides with the school district next week, the lawsuit won’t end there. The show cause hearing is essentially a battle, but the lawsuit is a larger war.
“The overall issue of who’s got the power to do what, we’ll decide and sort that out once the school year’s complete,” Dorsey said.
A video below shows Dorsey reading a letter from the state education department.
