Schools

Board of Education Adopts Budget, Discusses School Reform Legislation

The school board decided to preserve teaching positions while cutting expenses elsewhere Tuesday.

It was a short agenda for the Manchester Board of Education Tuesday, but it turned out to be an eventful night as the school board adopted a budget for the 2012-13 school year that filled a gap of about $1 million in reductions imposed by the Board of Directors but preserved teaching positions. The school board also discussed how the Connecticut General Assembly's could potentially impact the district.

The school system's overall budget for the coming fiscal year, which makes up more than 60 percent of total town spending, comes to about $100.65 million. The Board of Directors approves a total dollar amount for the Board of Education's budget, but how/where that budget is actually spent is up to the Board of Education. 

Board of Education Chairman Chris Pattacini said that in each of his five years as a member the school board has had to contend with a "balancing act" to try and mitigate the impact of reductions in its requested budget made by the Board of Directors. 

Find out what's happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Unfortunately, that's the state of affairs in public education nowadays," Pattacini said. 

And Tuesday's budget adoption was no different. The school board was considering eliminating four elementary school positions, which would have saved the district $218,597, but opted instead to find the savings through not fully funding an insurance program. School board members indicated that they also hoped to see an increase of about $185,000 from the town to help it fund transportation fees that came out higher than original estimated. 

Find out what's happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Pattacini said that Board of Directors members indicated they would consider the appropriation once they knew the exact dollar amount. 

In total, the school board approved reductions totaling $1,085,721 in expenditures, including a $50,000 reduction in textbook spending, a $310,000 increase in pension costs and a $200,000 increase in capital projects spending. 

Shortly before approving the budget, Interim Superintendent Richard Kisiel briefed the school board on . Kisiel said the bill could send an additional $1.34 million in state funding to Manchester schools - identified as one of the 30 "Alliance Districts," or lowest performing school districts in the state - but only after the school system presented a plan to implement some measure of the reforms outlined in the new law. 

Kisiel said his proposal would focus on finding "additional learning time" for the school district's youngest students, which could include an extended learning day, a longer school year or summer programs. 

"That's what I would try to focus on," he said. 

Kisiel told the school board that, in order to qualify for the funding this year, Manchester would have to submit its proposal to the state no later than Aug. 15. He said he envisioned drafting a suitable proposal in such a short period of time could prove difficult. 

"It will not be ready by the last meeting in June, I guarantee you," Kisiel told the school board. "I would say that we would need as many days as possible." 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here