Stonington school board does not adopt budget
Stonington — The Board of Education on Thursday night decided not to approve the 2021-22 proposed budget because some members felt the 4.8% increase was too much.
Last month, Superintendent of Schools Van Riley proposed a $41.6 million budget — with a $3.4 million, or 8.9%, increase from last year's budget — to the board.
While the Board of Finance has recommended the school budget increase not exceed 1.5%, Riley has pointed out that the school budget has shown decreases of 0.30% and 1.32% in the past two years. Even with an 8.9% increase, he said, the three-year average increase would be 2.4%, which is the average of what had been approved in years before that and is what is needed to maintain programs.
Over the past month, board members held meetings to cut the budget to an increase of 4.8%.
On Thursday night, the board voted 3-3 to approve the budget and send it to the Board of Finance for consideration. Because it was a tie vote, the budget was not approved. The board and Riley now will go back and try to find more savings.
Board members Jack Morehouse, Farouk Rajab and Craig Esposito voted in favor of the budget, while Chairman Frank Todisco and board members Heidi Simmons and Gordon Lord voted against it. Board member Alisa Morrison was not present for the vote.
Todisco said the past week had really opened his eyes to how the community is hurting due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said people he spoke to have talked about the loss of jobs and wages and struggling to make ends meet.
He said that in his more than seven years on the board, he has felt "a responsibility to balance the needs of the district and the burden on the taxpayer."
"I think that 4.8% or whatever that final number is in the environment we are in now is something a lot of people are not going to be able to afford when it results in a higher tax bill," he said.
But Morehouse, a marina owner who says he pays an exorbitant amount of taxes and is facing increases in his costs, said the school system has not had a budget increase the last couple of years and "I don't want this to fall on the backs of our kids."
He said he does not want to have a substandard school system while paying those taxes.
"I want our kids to have everything other kids have and more," he said.
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