The Westport Board of Education, after lengthy discussion, decided tonight to endorse a recommendation of Schools Supt. Elliott Landon and not seek to restore $450,000 cut from its proposed $75.1 million budget.
The Board of Education decided tonight not to seek restoration of $450,000 cut from its proposed $75.1 million budget. WestportNow.com photo
The Board of Finance had cut $1.25 million from the educators’ budget last month only to vote later to restore $800,000.
The budget next goes before the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) next month which could restore the deleted amount.
Board members Steve Halstead said he favored asking for $402,000 to be restored and was joined by Mark Mathias in voting for that amount, but the five other members voted against it.
A motion by member Lewis Brey to seek $195,000 in restoration failed when only Linda Merk-Gould joined him in voting for the amount.
After the two restoration amounts were voted down, no other motions were made for any other amount, leaving the board to in effect endorse Landon’s recommendation not to seek any restoration.
The resulting proposed budget is $74.7 million, a $4.6 million or 6.6 percent increase over the current budget.
While the board is not endorsing any restoration, it is still possible that an RTM member could nevertheless propose restoration of any amount of up to $450,000 at the body’s May 4 budget meeting.
However such a motion would require approval by a super majority of 70 percent of RTM members present and voting that evening in order to pass.
At the outset of their discussion, Landon said while any cut is difficult, he would do his best to mitigate the effects of the $450,000 reduction on a short-term basis.
“I would not feel uncomfortable with the proposed reductions,” he said.
But Halstead said while he could give up $48,000 to purchase some trucks, he could not in good conscience not seek to restore the balance of $402,000 cut from the education budget.
“The longer I’ve been involved in this, the more important it is for us to be advocates for our educational system,” he said.
Brey argued that it was a “dangerous road to go down” to seek restoration from the RTM after having worked closely with the Board of Finance to get it to add $800,000 back to their budget.
“I dont think we will get restoration at the RTM,” said Brey, who has served both on the Board of Finance and the RTM. “It might be more prudent not to seek restoration.”
Board chair Sandra Urist said she, too, was concerned about the ramifications of seeking restoration from the RTM after having been through lengthy discussions with the Board of Finance.
Brey said while he was uncomfortable asking for any restoration, he favored asking for $195,000 because that would cover a proposed cut in the teacher reserves that Landon had cited in a memo distributed prior to tonight’s meeting.
Brey said he would have no problem arguing in front of RTM members for the amount which he said if not restored could risk increasing class sizes.
