Schools

Save Our Sports Foots the First Bill for Freshman Sports

Freshman Sports Approved at the 11 1/2 Hour

Freshman sports began right on schedule at 5 p.m. Monday, but not without a little last minute drama.

 Without funding, freshman sports could not commence, and while the $60,000 that was found by Mayor Mark Boughton and Department of Education Finance Director, Elio Longo, has been promised to freshman sports, that money is not available yet.

Members of the Save Our Sports (SOS) team arrived at the Board of Education building at 63 Beaver Brook Road at 3:30 p.m. Monday afternoon to deliver a $11,000 check needed for the games to begin. Danbury residents donated the $11,000.

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Booster Club Vice-President Lorraine Amaral, President Sondra Cherney, and Secretary Andrea Cyryla, were among the original ten volunteers who dedicated their time and efforts to raising the funds to assure that freshman sports would continue. The money paid by SOS on Monday will allow freshman sports to continue through mid-September, until the money from the budget can be appropriated by the city.

 “It feels very good,” said Sondra Cherney, President of the Booster Club for Freshman Sports. “We are down to the eleven and a half hour. The money we are contributing will be used towards salaries and start-up costs. They would have preferred we gave them the $30,000 but the $60,000 will be coming in from the city, so we will just take it from here, and make sure that all of the money we donate will be safely appropriated to freshman sports.”

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 “We were very thankful for the $11,000,” said Longo. “We told the coaches this morning, start the program immediately!”

 Longo said that there will be a close accounting of “every nickel, dime and dollar. We have to be sure that the dollars are only going to freshman sports.”

 The decision of how to distribute the city money is still pending. The two options are that the money would be given directly to the Board of Education or it would be given to SOS to give to the Board of Education as needed.

 While it would seem as if the entire process is well in hand, there are still cards yet to be dealt. The Board of Education must formally accept the donations of SOS for the use of freshman sports. Longo said, “There is also a timing issue.”

 There has to be money available until the city releases the excess funds. “The Board can only offer a program based on funds, and as long as the city and the board act quickly, it should be fine,” said Longo. “Over the next couple of weeks, we have to see these funds come through. The amount received today gets us over the initial hurdle.”

 Many wonder where the money appeared from in such a tight budget climate. Longo explained the budget review process. “We have $114 million appropriated and on any given day, we spend about $300,000 to $500,000, so the $58,000 to $59,000 is only 1/20th of 1% of the budget.”

 Longo explained that on a daily basis, teacher absences can change, creating an excess or deficit in the expectations of salary costs. There can be other variables throughout the year, as well.

 “The books close June 30,” said Longo. “We go through the books and find the discrepancies, and when the dust settles, we see what we have.”


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