Board of Education Seeks Full Budget Restoration

The Westport Board of Education voted 4-3 Monday night to seek a full restoration of the $1 million the Board of Finance voted to cut from the schools' 2010-2011 budget.

While all Board of Education members voted to seek some kind of restoration, not every member agreed the board should ask for the full million because of the significant financial challenges the Town of Westport is facing.

With pension obligations and continued demands for services, First Selectman Gordon Joseloff proposed a budget increase of of 7.6 percent over the current year, which did not include fully funding the pensions.

Last month, the Board of Finance voted to cut about $4.59 million from the town's budget, to then reinstate $2.8 million to fully fund the pension obligation. That cut Joseloff's request to a net of $1.79 million.

Regarding the Board of Educatoin's proposed budget, the Board of Finance cut $1 million from the $2 million request.

The "Day of Restoration," in which the town and the Board of Education can make their pitches to the Board of Finance as to why their respective budgets should not be cut is Wednesday. 

After urging from residents, parents and students to stick with the original proposal, the Board of Education ultimately voted to seek the full restoration. Board members Michael McGovern, Elaine Whitney and Faith Taylor opposed the motion seeking a full restoration.

"I'm in favor of a full restoration," Board of Education chairman Don O'Day said. "I truly do believe that we need it."

Jim Marpe and Mark Mathias agreed that the schools need the money, that the quality of education could be compromised without it and that officials worked hard to come up with a responsible budget.

Sandy DeFelice said it's "irresponsible" on the part of the Board of Finance to surprise the Board of Education with a $1 million cut.

"It's disappointing to sit here at this point and have to struggle to go back on this," she said. "This is making people choose between which budget they support (town or schools) and unfortunately this is not what we need at this point. In our history and in our economy, we should have known the information up front and budget accordingly. So, for that main reason alone and because I think the budget is very good, I would only support a full restoration."

While McGovern agreed the board worked hard on its budget and maintained a transparent process, he said "I always think there's maybe something we can do (to tighten)."

Whitney and Taylor agreed a modest sacrifice in the budget would help the town and could be done with the least amount of impact to students, perhaps by deferring some projects.

When members of the public took to the podium, many said if the board changes its budget now, it would appear they did not cut everything they could.

In a memo to Board of Education members dated April 5, Superintendent of Westport Public Schools Dr. Elliott Landon suggested several budget reductions to meet the BOF approval. Those cuts included, eliminating new teaching positions for computer and web-based programming, reducing secretarial staff and eliminating bus monitor positions, among others.

Representative Town Meeting member Steve Rubin addressed the board about one specific area he would not cut from the BOE budget - the school bus monitoring program. The program was instituted more than a decade ago after an elementary school-age girl named Holly Finley was killed when a drawstring on her jacket became caught in a railing as she got off the bus at her driveway. As the bus drove away, she was pulled beneath it.

"Mandarin Chinese, copy machines, SMART boards, reserve teachers, new computers and yes, even an extra child in a classroom," Rubin said. "Nothin is worth anything if we have another Holly story. Please remove any thought whatsoever to even suggest the removal of $170,000 from the budget to discontinue this program. ... Anything would be better than to remove this line item to cover financial responsibilities."

After listening to public officials, PTA parents and Staples High School students, the board decided to stick with their original proposed budget, which asks for a 2.13 percent increase over the current year or about $2 million.

The Board of Finance will make its final determination Wednesday. If restoration is not granted, the Board of Education does not have to address deletions to its proposed budget until the RTM acts upon the BOF recommendations in May.