Two tutor positions and a host of extra-curricular clubs and activities at Seymour High School will be funded for the next school year — but the district is still without an athletic director.
The Board of Education Monday approved filling the two tutor positions for Bungay and Chatfield schools at $13,000 each, using funds reallocated from other accounts.
It also approved funding the activities that had been cut from the budget during the budget process.
The board came up with about $73,000 that could be reallocated for items Superintendent Mary Ann Mascolo set as priorities.
The list also included the part-time athletic director’s position — for $40,000.
But to do everything on her list would cost about $81,000, leaving an $8,000 gap that would need to be filled by finding the funds elsewhere.
The board decided to fund the tutors and the student activities and voted to send the part-time athletic director’s position back to the Athletic Committee to review for a possible $8,000 cut, bringing the position’s salary to $32,000.
It’s important to have an athletic director because in his or her absence, those duties fall to the assistant principals, Mascolo said.
“I believe reinstating the athletic director’s position is important because it means the assistant principals won’t have to do that and can focus on other things,” she said.
When she compiled her list of priorities, the criteria she used was on how many students each item benefits, Mascolo said.
“As a former elementary school teacher and principal, I know that the tutors are essential,” board chairman Ed Strumello said.
The after-school clubs are very important in forming a well-rounded student, especially when it comes to applying to college, board member Fred Stanek said.
“Many of the clubs are academic in nature and they are important to build student character and community involvement,” he said.
Board members Bruce Baker and Jeanne Loda said they didn’t think the board should be spending any of the money. It would be wiser, they said, to keep it in reserve for emergencies.
“I wouldn’t spend any of it,” Baker said. “What if there’s a problem with the pool or something else comes up? “
The board is working under such a tight budget, it needs to have a cushion that the funds could provide, Baker said.
“Because of the situation with the budget the last three years getting cut, cut, cut, I think we have to put everything on hold,” Loda said. “What if we get a couple more special education kids? We are already down to the bare bones, what if something else comes up?”
Ultimately the board approved the funds for after-school activities and for the two tutors and left open the possibility of funding the athletic director’s position at a lower rate.