Board of Education approve $31.4 million budget with some concessions
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Thursday, May 21, 2009 - 10:03am
At the May 18 meeting, the board of education voted on a $31.4 million budget for 2009-2010 after accepting $7,800 in union concessions and $352,000 in additional cuts.
After District 13’s first budget of $31.8 million failed at referendum on May 5, the Personnel Policy Committee took the lead in seeking union concessions. The nurses’ union and administrators’ union, including principals, assistant principal, special education director, special education coordinator and curriculum director, and five nonunion central office employees, including the Superintendent, business manager, director of building and grounds, facilities director and director of technology, agreed to take a one-day, unpaid furlough each for a $7,883 savings to the district.
If all unions took a one-day furlough, it would have been a savings of $90,000, Superintendent Susan Viccaro said. But for varied reasons, the district’s remaining unions – the teachers, custodians, support staff, and kitchen staff – did not concede.
In follow-up phone calls, unions were asked their reasons for not conceding.
Pat Daly, co-president of support staff union (secretaries and paraprofessionals), said, “We decided to say no because we’re backing the teachers, and at this moment we are in contract negotiations so we don’t even know what’s happening with contracts.”
Gail Foreman, president of kitchen staff union, said, “For the past full school year and the one we’re in right now, we gave back hours. For example, a person working six hours went down to 4.5 and 4.75 hours. So we gave back hours, not money, that’s why we didn’t do furloughs. The kids have to eat so that was a tough one for us.”
Candy Brickley, president of teachers union, said, “It is our belief that concessions have already been made. Teacher salary increases are not solely responsible for increases in district/town costs. The existing teachers’ contract was bargained in good faith last year.
The teachers agreed to increase premium share and co-pays in health insurance each year.
Moreover, we encouraged members to switch to a Health Savings Account, resulting in significant savings to the board. An additional concern that we have is that at this point the state budget is still unknown.” (See more in her letter to the editor.)
Paul VanSteenbergen, president of custodial union, said, “We were totally willing to do it if everyone across the board did it. The custodian union was all for it.”
During the meeting, Viccaro also informed the board that, after discussion at the previous meeting about the challenges of cutting $25,000 in general supplies across the district, the administrators had an alternative idea for the board to consider which would preserve the general supplies category and save an additional $2,000. The idea was to remove three interns, at a cost of $27,000 total, which has no impact on programs or students in the district.
“Because the budget is frozen every year and this area (general supplies) is hit hard, we can’t keep nickel-and-diming it down,” Viccaro said. “This would keep it intact, and I’m fully in support of this idea.”
The interns, who come from the University of New Haven at $9,000 each per year, act as substitutes in any area of all of the buildings.
In addition to $27,000, the board cut an additional $75,000 for a new teacher, $10,000 in library books and periodicals and $15,000 in uniforms.
The board voted to hold a referendum on the $31,435,862 budget, which is a 1.26 percent increase over the current year, on Tuesday, June 2, from 6 a.m. till 8 p.m. at the Community Center for Middlefield residents and Korn School for Durham residents. There will be a district meeting on Monday, June 1 at 8 p.m. in the Coginchaug auditorium to allow for questions.
