By James Lomuscio

Westport’s Board of Education voted unanimously tonight not to ask the Board of Finance when it meets Wednesday to restore the $250,000 cut from the school’s proposed $98.6 million 20011-12 budget.

The vote followed a recommendation from Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon who said he acknowledge the town’s “difficult financial situation.’

“I’m always reluctant not to seek restoration because the budgets we put together always reflect fiscal prudence,” said Landon. “However, I recognize the town is in a difficult financial situation.”

Landon also noted that the Board of Finance, in making the cut “appeared to do so reluctantly.”

By Jacqueline Rabe and Robert A. Frahm

www.ctmirror.org

As mayor of Stamford, Dannel P. Malloy grew so frustrated seeing his wealthy neighbors get almost the same per-pupil education grants from the state as his city did that he joined a class-action lawsuit over the funding system.

As governor, he intends to change that system from within.

“There are two ways to do it: We could leave it up to the courts or we could take it up ourselves,” Malloy said in an interview with The Mirror. The current system, he says, “does a bad job of telling us where we should spend money.”

The state spends about $2.7 billion on primary, secondary and adult education each year. Malloy is calling for a fresh look at how the state spends almost $2 billion of that money dispersed for public schools through the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant, the largest single source of state support for public education to the state’s 169 towns, and about 10 percent of the state’s total budget.

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By James Lomuscio

Stressing that no cuts would affect class size, teacher jobs or the educational quality of Westport’s schools, the Board of Finance tonight voted unanimously to trim $250,000 from the Board of Education’s proposed $98.6 million operating budget.
Kathy Sharp, head of the teachers’ union, tells the Finance Board: “If you cut tonight, it really means that you’re not supporting the investment in our children.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Finance board member Avi Kaner made the motion for the cut, suggesting that it come from the schools’ requested $950,000 educational information technology budget. In proposing the cut, Kaner said technology costs have consistently dropped since 2007.

Following that vote, the finance board unanimously approved the total school budget—including aid to private and parochial school and debt service—of $112.42 million. It was quickly followed by a unanimous vote approving the total town budget including schools and municipal government at $178.64 million.

The whole meeting took a little more than an hour, making it one of the shortest finance board sessions in recent history.

By James Lomuscio

The Westport Board of Education Monday night voted 6 to 1 to approve Superintendent Elliott Landon’s request not to renew contracts of 144 non-tenured teachers at the end of the school year—a move the teacher’s union head called “devastating” to the morale of all teachers.
Elliott Landon: “many uncertainties here.” Dave Matlow / WN photo

Landon said the tactic was necessary since the school board faces uncertainty as its 2011-12 school budget goes before the Board of Finance this week. The proposed $98.3 million budget is a $2.3 million increase, most of it covering salary and benefit increases.

“We have no idea what our final budget will be, and to preserve our options, I have asked the board to include our non-tenured teachers on the list,” said Landon. “There are so many uncertainties here.”

In past years, only substitutes had to live with the possibility of not having a job the following year. This year, however, Landon sent a letter to all non-tenured teachers as well, informing them their contracts would not be renewed. (See WestportNow March 15, 2011)

By James Lomuscio

A non-tenured Westport teacher received this letter from Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
A Staples High School teacher says she and other non-tenured Westport teachers received a letter from Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon stating that he will recommend their contracts not be renewed next year.

In the same letter dated March 1, Landon thanks the teacher for her service and suggests she reapply.

“We are being given assurances that these letters are a legal formality, and that we will end up being renewed after the budget passes,” the teacher, who did not want to be named, said.

“However, legally, the district is clearly prepared for the possibility that some quantity of teachers will be laid off,” she added.

Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon tonight handed out tokens of appreciation to Board of Education members, including Faith Taylor (l) and James Marpe. The recognition – note cards with pictures of one-room Connecticut school houses – came from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education which recognizes that members serve without pay and often without much thanks, but plenty of criticism and second guessing. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com