Teachers: School Cuts Have Brought ‘Shame’ To Ansonia

ANSONIA — The public and Ansonia educators held a rally Thursday to show how a funding battle between City Hall and the school district is hurting education in the city.

Speakers included teachers and a high school student who catalogued the negative consequences of the school district’s legal battle with the city over funding — and Democrats who said the Republican administration of Mayor David Cassetti is failing the city’s public schools.

GOP leaders, meanwhile, laid the blame for the state of the city’s schools lies with the Democrats, and questioned the propriety of using the school as a backdrop for a political event three weeks before the election.

The city and school board have been in open conflict since the Board of Aldermen voted to take back $600,000 in education funding in January.

The move meant that city schools did not receive at least the same amount of money it had the previous year — a violation of Connecticut’s ​“minimum budget requirement,” according to the state Department of Education.

Cassetti’s administration said the cut was reasonable because the school board received about $1.8 million in unanticipated grants. 

In May, the school board sued the city over the $600,000 cut. The state education department is also conducting an official investigation after its calls for the city to return the money fell on deaf ears.

Click here to read more background about the conflict.

The Rally

Ansonia Federation of Teachers President Mathew Hough began Thursday’s rally by questioning Cassetti’s priorities, saying the $600,000 cut came weeks before the city awarded a contract to pave Wakelee Avenue. 

The project was funded by a state grant contingent on the city kicking in nearly $450,000.

“The City of Ansonia voted to steal money from our students in order to fund the paving of roads,” Hough said. ​“The city chose roads over their students and our schools.”

The city’s corporation counsel disputed Hough’s conclusions when asked about the issue after the rally, saying the funds had been set aside earlier.

Hough urged those at the rally to vote for the three Democratic candidates for state office standing behind him — Kara Rochelle, Jorge Cabrera, and William Tong.

Rochelle is running to represent Ansonia and Derby in the state House of Representatives. Cabrera is running to represent the area in the state senate, and Tong is running for attorney general.

“We need leaders at the state and local level who believe in the power of a public education,” Hough said. ​“Our voices will be heard today and then again at the voting booths on Nov. 6.”

Hough, Superintendent Carol Merlone, and teachers said the budget cuts caused overcrowded classrooms and the elimination of extracurricular activities and other opportunities for students.

Nearly 30 teaching positions have been eliminated in the past two years, Hough said.

The dearth of resources has brought morale to an all-time low.

Chera Gaudino, in her 16th year as a first-grade teacher at Prendergast School, said she used to have 19 to 20 students in her class, and now has 25.

Help she received in the past from paraprofessionals or aides doesn’t exist now due to cuts.

“Each day we go to school with a smile on our faces and hope for change in our hearts and then reality sets in when our students walk through our doors each morning,” she said.

Lisa Delgrego, a second-grade teacher at Mead School, held back tears while describing her overcrowded class.

“I have bruises on my legs just from trying to walk through and pass out papers,” she said. ​“I love teaching and I love my kids, but I’m ashamed to say I work in Ansonia.”

Christopher Winters, a 17-year-old senior at the high school, said the animosity between City Hall and the school district has overshadowed student achievements and ​“distracted the student body as a whole from the real task at hand.” 

“We should be able to focus on our studies and our extracurricular activities, yet we constantly hear about the issue of budget and how we may lose these opportunities we so dearly cherish and appreciate,” Winters said.

Cabrera, running against state Sen. George Logan to represent the 17th District in the state senate, agreed.

“We shouldn’t have to be here,” he said, recounting struggles faced by his wife, a school principal. ​“But we’re here because our elected officials have failed us.”

“It’s not going to change unless we do something,” Cabrera said. ​“Vote. Vote. Vote. Vote. Because elections have consequences.”

Jimmy Tickey, a Shelton resident and campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, read a statement on the congresswoman’s behalf saying the city needs Rochelle and Cabrera in Hartford.

Rochelle, running against current Ansonia Alderman Joseph Jaumann to represent the 104th District in the state House of Representatives, said she stood with the students.

“We’re here because the Valley shows up for each other. This is a community that knows it’s a great place to raise our kids,” she said. ​“We need to continue to make it a great place to raise our kids.”

“We need to cooperate, we need to work hard, and we need to show these kids that we are going to get them the teachers and support they need,” Rochelle said.

Republicans Respond

A handful of Republican politicians attended the rally, including Ansonia Aldermen Phil Tripp and Kevin O’Brien, who have broken with the Cassetti administration on the school funding issue.

In interviews and prepared statements, other Republican leaders blasted Thursday’s rally, and blamed for the state of the city’s schools onto Democrats who controll state government.

Sam Pollastro, a Derby Republican leader and Jaumann’s campaign manager, sent reporters a screenshot purportedly showing an email sent by Merlone to staff and school board members reminding them about the event.

“If you can attend (all staff … secretaries, paras, aides, custodians, food service employees, etc.) your participation will definitely reflect your support for our students and teachers,” it read.

He questioned whether a school boss should have been directing her underlings to attend the rally.

“Is this even legitimate?!” Pollastro said. ​“Can you use your influence and contact list to push a political event/agenda?! If this isn’t illegal is it at the very least unethical?!”

In an e‑mail, Merlone said the event was sponsored by the teachers union, and that she always sends e‑mails for school events.

“The intent of the e‑mail was to support our teachers and students,” she said. ​“It is not illegal or unethical to support teachers and students. I guess some people missed the message … Our children deserve better… they are our FUTURE!”

Jaumann said the state has underfunded the city’s schools, and that raising taxes on Ansonia residents to make up the difference would be unfair.

“We can all agree that we need to look for more ways to support education, but we should not be doing it in ways that drive out the residents who pay for it,” he said.

The Valley Indy emailed Logan seeking comment on Thursday’s rally.

J.R. Romano, the chairman of the state’s Republican party, berated the event as a ​“political rally,” placing blame for the school district’s plight on Democrats in Hartford.

“These press conferences and rallies are disingenuous at best,” he said. ​“If they were truly concerned about municipal budgets, they (Democrats in the state legislature) wouldn’t have slashed (aid to) them.”

Jaumann also critiqued the rally’s political nature.

“Our next State Representative needs to have experience in the community, and relationships with the local leaders in order to best support our community,” he said. ​“Holding a political rally to blame the Mayor and Alderman of Ansonia for not raising taxes, less than three weeks before an election for which you are asking to become the community’s voice in Hartford, is definitely not what the taxpayers of Ansonia or Derby need.”

David Papcin, the chairman of Ansonia’s Republican Town Committee, attended the hearing and posted a statement on Facebook criticizing the event.

“Ansonia schools need solutions that involve creativity, compromise and cooperation — not higher taxes,” he said. ​“Our City needs representatives that work with local government — not hold rallies against it. I attended the rally tonight in hopes of hearing solutions to these issues, yet I did not hear a single one.”

In his remarks during the rally, Cabrera bristled at critiques by Republicans of making the issue political.

“Some have said it’s not appropriate to talk about politics. It’s completely appropriate. Completely appropriate,” he said. ​“Because the people we elect to represent us, whether it’s at the local level or the state level or the governor’s mansion, they have an impact on what happens in our schools because they control the funding.”