The Seymour Board of Education is gearing up for another tough budget season.
Residents rejected three school budget proposals, before finally approving a 2010-11 spending plan that saw a zero percent increase in May.
This time, the board plans to use the power of effective communication to get the spending plan passed on the first try.
The board held a pow wow Monday evening to talk strategy.
“How do we get a message out to them to get them to support the budget?” asked Richard Belden, the district’s finance director.
Start by crafting a clear and concise narrative about why the district needs the money, Belden said.
“Tell the story,” Belden said. “Where have you been and where are you going.”
Belden said that story should come in the form of an executive summary about the proposal — written in English, not education jargon.
That summary will likely have less hard data than in previous years, but the specific line item information will be available upon request, Belden said.
“We need to be consistent with ‘Less is more,’ because I think (the budget) confuses people,” said Board of Education Chairman Edward Strumello. “And I’m not being derogatory. If you don’t live the budget, it can be very confusing.”
Parental Input
The Board will host a public forum at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Seymour Middle School to seek public input on the spending plan for 2011-12.
The event will also be an opportunity for the board to explain the budget process and timeline, and to explain why they request the funds they do each year.
“We want to listen to what they have to say, to help us craft our budget,” said Superintendent MaryAnne Mascolo.
This year, the district is working with a $29.1 million budget — which is the same amount the district was allotted for each of the two previous years.
“As a team, we’re doing an excellent job continuing to provide a good education for Seymour,” Mascolo said. “But it’s going to get tougher.”
Mascolo said the district expects either level funding, or a decrease, in state education cost sharing grants, which would have a big impact on the district.
Other Strategies
Board members had several ideas on how to engage the public and present a clear message to the voters in order to persuade them to vote yes on the school budget.
“Fred’s got to sell kindergarten to senior citizens,” said Bruce Baker about fellow board member Fred Stanek.
His point: the board needs to explain to all voters why funding education affects their lives.
“We need to give them a very simple and straightforward reason for why we want this stuff,” Baker said.
Other ideas floated:
- get people to show up to an informational meeting by hosting a student dance and require parents to stick around while the event goes on.
- draft a short book on the ways education has changed over the years, and why that costs more money now.
- host a workshop to help Board of Finance members understand why the Board of Education requests the money it does
- consider using social media and YouTube videos to communicate with parents.
The Timeline
Mascolo said school principals have sent her budget proposals for each of the schools, based on what they feel is needed to maintain services and meet state mandates.
The central office staff has asked for data to back up the proposals.
Then the administrators will look at the requests and draft an entire district budget. By the beginning of January, the Board of Education finance committee will review the proposal, and by the end of January, the entire board will get its hands on the plan.
The Board of Education must present the proposed budget to the town’s Board of Finance by Feb. 1.
Voters typically get to have a say at a referendum in late April or early May.
Seymour residents vote on the Board of Education and town budget proposal separately.
