At the Tuesday, April 25 New Fairfield Board of Education (BOE) meeting, members were dismayed to hear a scenario for how the school budget might be cut by $1.775 million. Superintendent Dr. Ken Craw was frank in delivering the news but also expressed hope that the cuts would not end up as high as they currently stood.
Described as a “doomsday scenario” by BOE Chair Mr. Dominic Cipollone, the reductions cut a wide swath through staff, including teachers, coaches, paraprofessionals, an administrator—who it was noted would assume a teaching position and keep their salary per their contract—and a secretary. Program eliminations or reductions would include the Gifted and Talented, elementary STEAM, the phasing out of Latin plus fewer electives and the math lab and workshops at the high school, the elementary Strings program, and more.
In considering “a reduction of this magnitude, we know there’d be a significant impact on students,” Craw said. He reminded the Board that the district is on a positive trajectory in coming out of the pandemic’s height and “a reduction at this level would reduce those kinds of advancements.” He explained that the district’s priorities remain: to ensure all health and safety measures are in place, to respond to all federal and state mandates, and to support the ongoing capital spending plan.
“We do have some good news on fuel and oil savings. Due to lock in rates we have a savings of $100,000 in capital,” Craw explained, giving them an automatic reduction. In addition, they reduced the funding towards the Middle School oil tank replacement—the tank will need to be replaced the following year.
BOE members were vocal about their frustration with the state of budget talks, including Mr. Ed Sbordone who remarked, “I’m collecting Social Security and I got an 8.7% increase in January…I’m not afraid to put some of that money towards the education of the children in this town. I look at these cuts as being one word ‘absurd.’ I believe I look at it as an insult to both this board and to all the citizens in New Fairfield. It’s insulting. And I hope everyone feels that way.” Mr. Tim Blair said of the potential cuts, “looking at this piece of paper quite literally makes me sick to my stomach.” In reaction to the potential cuts, BOE member Ms. Samantha Mannion said, “I didn’t sit on this board for eight years to hurt children.”
The BOE voted to censure fellow member Ms. Amy Johnson for violation of by-law 9327 for her use of internet social networks without identifying that she was speaking for herself, not as a representative of the Board. Cipollone clarified that the policy states that Board members should “conduct oneself online in a manner that reflects well on the district” and “to avoid posting information that has not been verified and made public by the district.” Johnson was posting regarding the faculty advocating for the budget in the drop-off lines before school. Cipollone stated, “quite frankly, I don’t take kindly to social media posts that bring detriment to his board. We work really hard to be an effective board and to go down the social media rabbit hole, in my opinion, is a problem.” Blair asked for clarification on whether Johnson was given notice that this vote was occurring and it was confirmed that she did not. Cipollone commented, “She’s an adult. She should know how to conduct herself as a board member. I’m tired of people being rogue and doing things outside of the rules of this board.”
Assistant Superintendent Ms. Julie Luby reported on recent standardized testing results.
Regarding Next Generation Science Standards and Smarter Balance Assessments, she said, “what it does is it gives us one numerical score that reflects the overall wellness of all of the students in the district…when you take every child’s score, and mush it all together, it comes back in a very mathematical way with an index score.” She compared this year’s scores to pre-pandemic scores and equated the current state of performance as gaining momentum, post pandemic. Where the math index score in 2016/17 was a 69.6, it is currently a 69.4, similarly in language arts, the score is a bit lower from 73.6 down to 72.7. “It really is the best indicator of our overall wellness in the district academically,” Luby said.
The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, 7:30 p.m.
By Sarah Opdahl