Photo by Ethan Fry
Hundreds of people attended a meeting at Ansonia High School June 5 regarding school funding.
Ansonia Schools Superintendent Carol Merlone sent a letter to parents Wednesday saying “students will be finishing their school year as planned” and that seniors will graduate from the high school June 18.
Merlone said she planned to meet with Ansonia High School seniors Thursday.
“This is their time to take exams with confidence, to complete their secondary education, and to rejoice,” Merlone said.
Merlone’s letter comes after a fiscal crisis in the school district caused school officials to announce Tuesday that schools could close within 24 hours — more than a week earlier than scheduled, and putting the district in violation of state law that says school years must be at least 180 days.
The announcement triggered a packed house at Ansonia High School Tuesday evening, where parents and community members peppered a school board lawyer with questions.
Merlone’s letter is posted below. If you can’t read it, there’s a larger image on Valley Indy Facebook. Click this.
An image taken from the Ansonia Public Schools’ Facebook page.
The school district has a lawsuit pending in court against Mayor David Cassetti’s administration.
The lawsuit accuses the city of illegally withholding $600,000 from the school budget in January, which has left the district with a large budget gap.
Here’s where it gets complicated:
City hall said the money was part of an agreement forged last year, when officials were not sure whether the school district would receive state aid the school district relies on to function.
The school district eventually received that money, so the city took the money back, Cassetti has said.
But the school district said the city did not follow proper procedures and rules regarding school funding — so the district has asked a judge to intervene.
Part of the district’s argument is that state law prohibits cities from replacing local education dollars with “alliance district” grants from the state.
Alliance district grants are supposed to go to the state’s lowest-performing schools for specific reform programs — not for tax relief.
Photo by Ethan Fry
Ansonia Board of Education President William Nimons talks to Frederick Dorsey, the school board’s lawyer, during a February 2018 meeting.
But the city points to a law that allowed municipalities to tweak school budgets after the budgets are approved.
The law was created because last year’s state budget — a huge funding source for Ansonia schools — was finalized long after Ansonia approved a school budget.
A “show cause” hearing on the school board’s lawsuit is scheduled for June 12 in Superior Court in Derby.
At the hearing, Ansonia schools will ask the judge to force the city to release money so the school can continue to pay bills.
The school budget debate in Ansonia has entered the political realm.
City Democrats have been circulating images on Facebook critical of Ansonia’s budget planning, and are calling for a protest June 12:
City Republicans have been circulating images on Facebook critical of the school board while asking for a line-by-line accounting of spending and revenue:
Closing/Not Closing
On Tuesday, the school board’s lawyer said the district was worried they would not be able to make the last two payrolls of the year.
The district received an email at 7 p.m. Tuesday from the state education department saying the city could not subtract Ansonia dollars from the school budget and insert alliance district money in its place.
This is the second time the state education department has made that statement.
The lawyer said the email — coupled with the fact a show cause hearing had been scheduled — caused the school board to backoff its intention to close the schools with 24 hours notice.
The statement from the lawyer made at the end of the school board’s meeting Tuesday is posted below.
The show cause hearing had been scheduled before the district sent word to the media and parents Tuesday about the potential early closing.
The document appeared as a blurb in an online court database Monday, and was available online to download Tuesday morning.
A copy of the “show cause” hearing order and the school board’s lawsuit is posted below.
Ansonia Show Cause Hearing by The Valley Indy on Scribd
Ansonia BOE vs City of Ansonia by The Valley Indy on Scribd
