School Finance Committee Suggests More Budget Cuts

The Board of Education Finance Committee tonight recommended that an additional $200,000 be shaved from its budget increase request to the city for the 2011-2012 school year. Those savings result from a new two-year contract the city recently signed with its utility company, locking in a lower-than-anticipated rate for electricity, according to Assistant Superintendent of Schools Michael Grove. The recommendation has to be approved by the full board before being sent to the city.

“Mike and I feel very confident that this will be real savings,” School Superintendent Dr. Mark Benigni stressed. “$200,000 is the minimum.”

By adding the $200,000 to other recent budget reductions, Benigni explained, “We would be looking, in essence, at a .67% increase at this point.” The official budget increase request currently before the city council is 1.7%. City Manager Lawrence Kendzior, however, has proposed a 0% increase in school spending again this year.

“Our recommendation will be to the board, if there is no increase from the city, we have an additional $500,000 in cuts to make,” Benigni told the committee.

The city council will hold a public hearing on its proposed budget tomorrow night at 6pm at Lincoln Middle School and is scheduled to vote on the budget the first week in May.

Immediately following the Finance Committee meeting, the Board of Education Policy Committee also met. Dr. Miguel Cardona, principal of Hanover Elementary School, reported on the work of the Elementary and Middle School Attendance Policy Subcommittee, which is focusing on the issue of chronic absenteeism. According to his report, 192 students have missed 20 or more days out of the first 100 days of this school year.

“We’re going to really go in and do some qualitative work and find out why this is happening,” Cardona said. “The numbers are symptoms of a problem. We have to find out what the problem is.”

The subcommittee is reviewing the data it has collected and plans to make policy recommendations to the school board in June. One possibility suggested by Cardona involves creating an ongoing group of stakeholders to monitor and address the issue, possibly including representatives from agencies like the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Department of Social Services (DSS).

Superintendent Benigni mentioned that DCF has expressed interest in having a presence in the Meriden schools, for example, stationing a representative in the schools one day per week. The board may be discussing that possibility down the road, Benigni said, perhaps for next school year.

The committee also discussed changing school policy regarding pilot programs and changing pest-management policy to ban the use of lawn-care pesticides on school grounds in accordance with state laws.