Letter: Increasing Board Of Education's Runaway Budget A Lose-Lose

The following letter to the editor was submitted to Patch by Greenwich resident George Hritz

I am writing to congratulate the majority of the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET), who upheld their responsibility as fiscally responsive stewards for all of us in the Town. The Board of Education (BOE) remains the largest budget line item in the Town budget. Funding for education remains a top priority. Our Town is proud that our $27K/student/year budget is the highest in the state and that our $157,000 teacher annual average in salary & benefits is also the highest in the state and near the highest in the country. We spend $20 Million on school administration annually and our Superintendent is the highest paid Superintendent in the state. Moreover, over the past 18 years, we have spent $534 million on school capital projects, outpacing every comparable school district in CT.

November 2023 is a critical local election for our Town’s Selectmen, BET, BOE and the Representative Town Meeting. As a former Democrat (for over 30 years), I am sorry to see that Democrat state representatives Meskers, Arzeno and Khanna and Democrat members of the BET are mischaracterizing majority members of the BET as anti-spending and anti-schools. Clearly funding is not the issue. Mismanagement of funds and lack of accountability by the BOE appear to be the real issues. Each year, the BET funds BOE’s expenditures and the BOE decides how, where and when to spend the ample dollars provided by us. Poor execution, misplaced priorities and mismanagement of funds year after year have resulted in several ongoing problems. It is noteworthy that similar problems do not occur in Town facilities not maintained by the BOE.

Old Greenwich School and Central Middle School have deteriorated to their current dismal states, including sewage backups and other easily preventable issues, because of years of mismanagement of funds by the BOE.

How much longer will we allow administrators to shortchange our children?

We are parents and grandparents and we understand that great things can and should happen through our schools. We also understand that with no accountability there can be no change and no improvement.

Asking the BET to increase the BOE’s runaway budget is a sure path to a Town burdened with declining test scores and increasing taxes – a lose-lose situation for all of us.

Let’s support those BET members who have proven that they can be faithful stewards for all of us and let’s hold the BOE accountable for its increasing spending and declining results.