Photo by Ethan Fry
Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti, left, leaves court Friday with attorney Vincent Marino.
Two lawyers tussled for 40 minutes Friday in a Derby courtroom over what financial data should be released by the Ansonia school district to city government.
Judge Barry Stevens told the two sides of Ansonia government to work it out — or he would do it himself.
The arguments are the first steps in a lawsuit the school district has filed against city government for withholding $600,000 from Ansonia schools.
The two sides are scheduled to hold a mediation session in Derby court Monday in an attempt to resolve the long-simmering funding dispute.
If the sides don’t work out some type of agreement by the end of the day, a “show cause” hearing has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Superior Court.
At that hearing, if it goes forward, a judge will decide whether to grant the school district’s request and force the City of Ansonia to release the disputed money.
Background
In January, Mayor David Cassetti’s administration decided to withhold $600,000 from the school district.
City government did so because when the Board of Aldermen allocated money for the schools last spring, the state was in the middle of a budget crisis.
It wasn’t known whether the state would release crucial school grant money — including the “alliance district” grants for struggling schools — to the district.
The state grant money arrived after the city created a budget. So, according to Mayor Cassetti, the city was within its rights to take back $600,000.
The school district and the state education department said the city’s action violated rules regarding school grants. The city points to a law they say proves they are within their rights.
The school district eventually filed a lawsuit. The district is projected to run out of money which could impact teacher pay as the year draws to a close this month.
Background On Friday’s Hearing
Cassetti’s administration submitted a written motion in court to force Ansonia schools to release a detailed list of how money is being spent in June, including purchase orders and payroll information.
The city also asked for detailed information about grants and a number of related school budget funds.
In a written objection to the Cassetti administration’s request, the school district argued that the city constantly changes what information they want, and then claim the info provided isn’t detailed enough, making it impossible to satisfy City Hall’s demands.
The school board’s lawyer further contends that the city controls finances, so city government already has much of the info being requested at their disposal.
The school district’s lawyer, in the written objection, said the city was merely harassing the school district.
City Hall’s Lawyer
In court Monday, a lawyer representing Cassetti’s administration, Vincent Marino, said it’s impossible for the city to negotiate a deal with the school board without having more information from its books.
He said the city’s comptroller, Rich Bshara, said there seemed to be enough money in the school district’s accounts at the beginning of the month — $4.6 million — to cover its expenses for the rest of the year.
Marino said the school district is claiming it will run out of money by the end of the month.
“The city does not have any information to support a reasonable belief that that position is accurate,” Marino said.
He said the city needs more information from the school district to back those claims up, like details of how grants allocated to the school district are spent.
Marino questioned why the school district hasn’t been more forthcoming.
“This is all public information. I don’t know why it’s just not being turned over,” he said. “Any citizen should be able to get this information. So for the plaintiff to take the position that ‘We’re not going to give it to you’ suggests there’s something they don’t want us to see. And that’s going to make it more difficult for the parties to bridge that gap here.”
School District’s Lawyer
A lawyer representing the Board of Education, Joseph McQuade, said the school district has been giving the city information.
But then the city then says it’s not good enough.
“What the defendant is asking for is explanations of the documents that exist,” McQuade said.
He said the school district’s business manager has met with Bshara to provide info and would again.
He also said the info requested by the city was irrelevant to the main issue in the lawsuit — whether the Aldermen had the authority to take money from the school district’s budget in the middle of the year.
Judge Stevens agreed, but noted the information was relevant to the school district’s request for Tuesday’s hearing — that it wouldn’t finish the school year without going into the red.
He asked the school board’s lawyer to turn over the information to the city’s satisfaction.
“Show it to the city,” the judge said. “Sit down and show them the numbers.”
Both lawyers then sat in on a phone call between Bshara and the school district’s business manager for about 40 minutes before returning to the courtroom and telling the judge they’d work together to resolve any issues by noon Monday.
Monday’s Mediation
Also Monday — a mediation session before Judge Theodore Tyma is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to see if the two sides can resolve the dispute.
Leaving the courthouse Monday, Cassetti said he thinks the likelihood of a compromise increased with the promise of more info coming from the school district.
“I am hopeful,” he said. “Anything can happen.”
No school district employees nor Board of Education members were in court Friday.
Both boards have meetings scheduled for Monday night in case they need to vote on a settlement agreement in the case.
If there’s no agreement, Judge Stevens is scheduled to take up the matter at Tuesday’s “show cause” hearing, scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
Mayor Cassetti posted a statement on Facebook at 6:30 p.m. Friday (note: the judge did not take formal action in open court Friday on either the city’s motion or the school district’s objection).
