Addley Presents $28.56 Million Granby Schools Budget to Board

Granby Superintendent of Schools Alan Addley presented a $28.56 million 2013 administrative team budget at the regular meeting of the Board of Education Wednesday evening.

The proposed operating budget calls for a 1 percent increase - or $269,230 - over current year’s spending to $27.25 million. The additional $1.31 million will come from the Educational Capital Improvement Fund ($625,000) and the Quality and Diversity Fund ($690,930). The Quality and Diversity Fund is comprised of money received by the town from the state as reimbursement for participating in the Open Choice program.

The budget includes several new initiatives, such as the addition of all-day kindergarten and the expansion of the World Languages program, while realigning resources and personnel, particularly in the area of special education, along the way.

“I think we have a unique opportunity here,” Addley said. “If you don’t do it now, then we’re on our way back to mediocrity. You don’t become great by luck.”

Much is being done in the area of personnel.

Specifically, a net of .8 full-time positions (FTE) from the operating budget will be reduced and 9.2 full-time positions from the special education program will be cut, while 7.1 new full-time positions will be funded from the quality and diversity fund and open choice support grant.

Positions targeted in in the operating budget are broken down as follows: 4 full-time elementary school positions, .5 library/media teaching assistant, .5 school secretary and .2 special education teaching assistant positions will be eliminated. In their place, a full-time guidance counselor, full-time elementary consulting teacher, a full-time world language teacher, a full-time primary library/media specialist and a .4 preschool teaching assistant will be added.

Of the 9.2 special education positions that will be eliminated, 6.5 are teaching assistants’ positions, while 4.5 tutor positions and a full-time school psychologist position would also be cut.

A full-time special education resource teacher and a full-time secretary (two .5 FTE positions) would be added.

The district would save about $181,000 per year as a result of the special education review.

“It’s about putting the most qualified teacher with the most needy student,” Addley said.

Addley said that he was moving forward with all-day kindergarten and the expansion of the World Languages program because to not do so would be “a recipe for decline.”

“Complacency is something we don’t want to embrace,” Addley said.

The World Language expansion would mean the creation of a full-time position to teach Spanish in 5th and 6th grade, as well as a .6 FTE for Mandarin Chinese in the high school, though .4 of that position would be funded through Quality and Diversity.

“We’re excited for this,” Addley said.

Several members of the public, after Addley’s presentation, expressed their support for the World Languages expansion.

“We’re not raising Americans, we’re raising world citizens,” said Valorie Hollister, a parent and advocate for the language program in the public schools.

Parent Trisch Percival said that learning a new language helps with cognitive development and spacial reasoning, as well.

Later in his presentation, Addley put things in perspective, pointing out that Granby ranks 142 out of 166 school districts in expenditures on students, and that the town ranks 18th out of 20 in its DRG in per pupil spending at $12,145.

Still, Granby public schools perform at a high level, Addley said, noting, among other things, high test scores and Granby Memorial Middle School and Kelly Lane Intermediate School receiving prestigious accolades in the last couple of years.

As such, Addley called on the board and the community to support the proposed budget.

“If we don’t do it now, then when?” Addley asked. “If not this board, then which board? Who is going to do it for the kids? I just don’t know. This is a window of opportunity to do some things.”