Education Funding A Concern At East Granby Budget Hearing

The East Granby Board of Finance voted to send the $18.48 million budget to town meeting on April 27 after hearing from residents during a public hearing on Tuesday night.

The budget reflects a 2.1 percent increase for both the Board of Education budget and for the general government. The total Board of Education budget totals $13.59 million and the general government, $4.115 million. Based on revenue projections, the mill rate would remain at 27.0 and there would not be an increase in property taxes. 

Residents voiced questions and concerns during the public hearing, some in favor of the proposed operating budget, others concerned with the allocation for education funding. 

Maggie Gaffney drew attention to the consequences that cuts to the education budget could have on the children and programming in the schools.

“What we have is the bare minimum,” she said. “And we keep cutting and cutting and cutting. But, there’s nothing left to cut out. You can’t take away sports from the kids, you can’t take away music from the kids...because that’s all they have left.”

Donna-Marie Santy echoed Gaffney’s comments, and said the lure of the magnets schools and what they can offer students may encourage people to send their children there as opposed to the public school in town if there are limited resources. 

“I strongly urge that we need an increase in education,” she said. “What my son has at the Wintonbury [Early Childhood Magnet] School does not compare to what we have here. They have Smartboards in every classroom, they have two computers in every classroom. If people know that’s out there, people are really going to start to go and get that for their children.”

Conversely, resident Leo Stemp drew attention to the school districts across the nation laying off “hundreds and sometimes thousands of teachers.”

“You come to us asking for a 4.39 percent increase,” he said of the Board of Education’s original request for the 2011-12 school year. “How do you justify that vis-a-vis all the layoffs across the country that we’ve heard so much about. What makes you think that your needs are any different than their needs?”

At the close of the public hearing, the Board of Finance convened to deliberate on the public’s input and whether to send the budget forward as presented at the hearing. After several failed motions, a motion to carry the proposed budget as presented with a minor transfer of money between the debt payment and the capital fund carried just before midnight. 

The education funding was a major item the board members debated, and whether they should allocate additional funds over the presented 2.1 percent increase. There is the possibility for the district to receive a $115,000 increase in the open choice grant, but first has to be approved by the legislation and is not guaranteed. But, in the end, the originally allocated 2.1 percent increase was carried forward. 

The board also approved a transfer of $22,000 from the debt payment to the capital reserve fund  as the debt service interest payments have decreased. The debt payment now reflects a total of $384,562 and the capital reserve fund has a total of$387,556. 

The annual town meeting will take place on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Senior/Community Center. It is anticipated that there will not be a vote, and the meeting will adjourn to a referendum.