School Budget Strains to Maintain Staff, Programs

Rising poverty, a long, snowy winter, and higher enrollment are three reason's Danbury's school budget is in trouble this year.

Last night at Rogers Park Middle School, Mayor Mark Boughton was joined by several members of Danbury's Board of Education and State Representatives, all of whom presented a unified front in describing the challenges Danbury will meet in the coming year.

 The mayor discussed the toll the snow had taken on the city budget, diverting funding from other purposes. Boughton said, “Every time it snows an inch, it costs Danbury $25,000.” 

City workers spent days at a time shoveling snow off school roofs.

Boughton continued, “We need to focus on cleaning roofs and sealing buildings to prevent problems. One school needs a new roof and that is going to cost $1.6 million, which not be coming from the education budget. We have to meet certain standards and other ongoing maintenance; we have to replace boilers at Mill Ridge, Broadview and Danbury High School, which is going to cost $5.2 million. If we replace the boilers at Danbury High School, we must also do the windows which will cost $ 3 million. It's a hard and bitter pill. People want new schools but we don't have the funding for that. We are looking to see if we can utilize other buildings that might be good schools.”

 The education budget strives to maintain services and staff as much as possible with minimal budget increases coming from the State. Budget cuts have already been taken in health care, which has risen substantially in recent years. According to the Mayor, Danbury's health care costs have gone from $6.5 million in 2001 to $16 million in 2011.

 School Board Chairman Irving Fox said, “We are losing $3 million in funding and our enrollment is increasing. Even if we had the same this year as last, we are increasing enrollement by 100 and more a year. It's a quandry to provide the same education. We are trying to keep services level with only a 3.5% increase in budget. There will be hard decisions and cutbacks.”

 “Our teachers have taken zero.   Mayors and staff, no one has gotten a raise. But whatever we do, lets keep teachers in the classroom. Our class size in kindergarten through second grade is now at 22. Our class size will be growing to 25-30 students in the classroom in the high and middle schools. We are growing when so much of Fairfield County is losing. Last year we had 32% of our students getting free lunch, now it's up to 46%. It isn't about ethnicity, it is about socio-economic background,” said School Superintendent Sal Pascarella, Ph.D.

Representative Joe Taborsak, "I hope to not see any layoffs in Danbury, classes already too big.  How could a teacher handle 30 kids per class?”

“The alternate to layoffs means losing textbooks, library books; there are consequences, if we are keeping some programs, something else will be impacted,” said Board of Education Chairman Irving Fox.

 “We must continue to buckle down and find ways to help one another,” said State Senator Michael McLachlan, “We need to find creative ways to find funding. The city government is struggling to stay alive just to sustain services.  We need to look at what can we do to fill the void.”