East Granby School Board Expresses Frustration at Budget Questions

The wrangling over the East Granby schools budget continued at the Board of Education’s regular meeting on Monday evening.

The school board in late February approved Superintendent of Schools Christine Mahoney’s budget that called for a .

That increase was higher than the guidance provided by the Board of Finance, which called for a from both operating boards (school and Board of Selectmen). A 2.5 percent spending increase for the school board would be $339,000 over current year’s spending.

Last week, the school board presented the finance board with a letter that showed what the East Granby public school system would look like with a 2.5 percent spending increase. Included in the cuts would be, among other things, one full-time paraprofessional and a .5 full-time librarian positions, as well as reductions to utilities.

The finance board responded by issuing five questions to the school board concerning the following: staffing levels for the last two years as well as projected for 2012-13 for regular education; staffing levels for special education students for the last two years as well as projected for 2012-13; a list of grants, awards and other funds received by the school district to “offset” expenditures; the impact of accepting additional Project Open Choice students to the district; and all-day kindergarten funding.

At Monday’s meeting, the school board mulled answers to those questions, but not before reacting to what appeared to be the finance board coming close to overstepping its jurisdictional authority concerning the school district’s budget.

School board Chairman Kirby Huget explained that the finance board by statute has no authority over individual line items on the school district’s budget.

The finance board’s five questions “comes close to scrutinizing individual line items,” Huget said.

Mahoney was more blunt.

“It’s an audit,” she said. “If they are looking at [the schools’ budget] in that level of detail, then [it can be construed as] de facto managing the school board’s budget.”

Huget, however, said that, to the extent that the information would be subject to a freedom of information request, the school board should provide answers to the finance board to help it along in reaching a decision as to whether to raise the recommended increase from 2.5 percent.

“What is important for them to understand is that whatever is in each line item is provided for an education program that meets the needs of all students,” Mahoney said.

School board member Trevor Sanford said that the information requested by the finance board had already been provided.

“They’re asking for the same thing over and over again; it’s frustrating,” Sanford said.

Still, Huget said that the information should be provided again to help the finance board make a decision.

“In their minds, it was not sufficiently provided in handout form,” Huget said.

Corrections: The article clarified several quotes attributed to Mahoney, as well as a reference to Open Choice students.