The Board of Education said it has to lay off about 70 people to close a $700,000 hole in this year’s budget.
The board Tuesday voted to approve Superintendent Freeman Burr’s budget mitigation plan, which would eliminate up to nine certified and 60 non-certified positions.
Non-certified positions include secretaries, tutors, paraprofessionals, counselors and part-time employees.
The plan will go into effect on Jan. 15, assuming the city doesn’t give any more money to the Board of Education and teachers don’t change their minds about accepting two furlough days.
Those are two strategies the board is also exploring in an effort to close the budget gap.
“The next step is to have a conversation with the bargaining units, and show them the impact of the situation,” Burr said after the special meeting at Shelton Intermediate School, which was attended by more than 100 teachers and parents. “If they want to have a discussion (about the furlough days), we’re open to that discussion.”
Teachers Said No. Administrators, Yes.
Burr already approached the separate unions for all Board of Education employees and asked if they would agree to a two-day furlough to close the budget deficit.
The teachers union voted 2 – 1 against the idea, according to union president Deborah Keller. Almost all 400 teachers in the union participated in the vote, Keller said.
“Regardless of whether we gave furlough days, there would still be layoffs,” Keller said about the decision.
About 20 members of the administrators union agreed to the furlough days, Burr said.
City Help?
The Board of Education Tuesday also voted to approach the Board of Aldermen and the mayor to see if the city could give more money to the schools.
The Board of Education’s $63 million budget makes up about 57 percent of the city’s $110.3 million budget.
Board of Education chairman Timothy Walsh said he and Burr spoke to Mayor Mark Lauretti twice before Tuesday’s meeting to let him know of the budget problems.
“I told him very specifically there could be some layoffs and he said ‘Do what you have to do,’” Walsh said Tuesday.
Still, the board decided to ask again.
“You cannot just think they’re not going to help us, or assume that,” said board member Paula Ellis in support of the motion. “You have to at least try.”
The $700,000 budget shortfall is smaller than what administrators initially projected about a week ago, Burr said. At first the district was looking at a $2 million deficit, but was able to find other places to cut costs to decrease the deficit.
The problem was caused by a combination of less state funding, rising costs in health care benefits and special education, and not enough money budgeted by the city, Burr said.
Who Will Go?
It’s not clear exactly which positions will be eliminated, Burr said.
Among the nine certified staff members, which typically refers to teachers, four are teacher positions in the central office staff, Burr said. The certified staff layoffs will likely be learning coaches and support personnel.
Three of the 60 non-certified positions to be cut come from the central office.
Among the other 60 positions to be cut, Burr estimated about 20 would likely be reading assistants and 18 would likely be tutors.
After the meeting, teachers and staff members talked in stunned groups, weighing the impact of the cuts.
“They’re an integral part of our program,” said Karen Driscoll, a kindergarten teacher at Mohegan School, referring to school counselors. “Shelton has been trying very hard to build up this program. To go backward is very sad. It’s going to create a lot of anxiety among the students.”
The teachers said any job cuts will have a direct impact on students, and many lamented the lack of central office positions being eliminated.
“The only (positions) with no direct contact with students are the ones that aren’t being cut,” said high school math teacher Dameon Kellogg.
A Tough Vote
Some board members said they were upset they had to vote without knowing more specifically which positions would be cut.
Others simply said the vote was a difficult one they had to make.
Six members voted in favor of the layoffs, while two members abstained from the vote.
“I guess there’s painful decisions that have to be made,” said new board member Michael Pacowta. “I vote yes, with great regret.”
Kate Kutash and Kathleen Yolish were the abstaining votes. They said, as new members of the board, they didn’t have enough information to make a vote.
“I couldn’t vote no because I know the deficit needs to be mitigated,” Kutash said. “But I couldn’t vote yes either.”
