Board of Education Votes to Eliminate 26 District Positions

The Meriden Board of Education voted to approve its 2011-2012 budget Tuesday night, setting into action a plan to eliminate 26 staff positions from the district – including a full four teaching roles from Washington Middle School.

The cuts span pre-K through high school levels. They are being enacted to offset the $2.7 million in federal grants that will dry up for Meriden schools in the next fiscal year, according to administration officials.

No one will be laid off. The positions on the chopping block are either currently held by retiring or resigning staff and simply won't be filled – or – are held by current staff who will be shifted in-district to the roles being vacated by those leaving, Schools Superintendent Mark Benigni said.

The positions slated to be eliminated are:

Washington Middle School ILA Teacher (2)

The large proportion of cuts to Washington Middle School's staff is due to an expected decrease in student enrollment at the school next year.

Board member Scott Hozebin, the night's only vote against the budget said he thought the board should look again to see if it could find another way to make up the funds. Board member Irene Parisi voted to approve the budget but said she also wanted to make sure that the district was "being careful with the process" of moving teachers.

"I can’t tell you in all honesty that there aren’t people who are going to be upset with these moves," Benigni said. "It’s not perfect. We have very little wiggle room. If we make one change from this, it probably means we’ll be laying someone off."

Some board members lauded the plan for not proposing any layoffs in what will be a lean year for the district budget.

"I do think that with all the creative measures we’ve been taking – to say that no one's going to be cut from a position is a little reassuring," board member Kevin Scarpati said.