It as if the Norwich City Council and its Board of Education are functioning in parallel universes.

In the City Council universe the highest priority is holding the line on spending and taxes. The Republicans, who hold a 4-3 majority on the council in this traditionally Democratic city — counting the vote of Republican Mayor Peter Nystrom — ran on a platform of limiting spending and taxes in 2017.

In the Board of Education universe the highest priority is improving student test scores and providing a quality education and it contends it is already spending the bare minimum it needs to achieve those ends. That’s what the Democrats ran on in 2017 when they took 6-3 control of the board, ending a 5-4 Republican majority.

These two elected bodies have to find their way into the same universe and work things out because, as any science fiction aficionado will tell you, when universes collide it’s not good.

The school board concluded it could not run the schools on what the council provided. In the last budget cycle the board said it needed $83 million to operate the school system and that fixed costs tied to transportation, special education and the tuition charged at the designated high school, Norwich Free Academy, made further cuts impossible.

The council allocated $78.46 million, building in a $4.6 million deficit.

By converting health insurance to a high-deductible policy, freezing spending where possible, delaying supply purchases and making other adjustments, the projected deficit has been reduced to $2.47 million. Sometime this spring the school board will be asking the council for emergency funding, taken from the city’s safety-net fund balance, to keep schools operating.

And now it begins again.

The Board of Education Budget Expenditure Committee is recommending an $83.3 million budget for 2019-20. Will the council again refuse to provide the funding and again build in a deficit? Will the fund balance be further depleted?

Norwich has an added incentive to try to fix this mess. Superintendent Abby Dolliver is retiring at the end of the school year. What quality superintendent candidate wants to come to a school system in which the school board and council operate in different universes? That may be a challenge too daunting for even Capt. Kirk.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.