Windsor Locks School Officials Ask Board of Finance For 2.57 Percent Budget Increase

Windsor Locks school officials pleaded their case Wednesday for a 2.57 percent increase in the proposed 2011-12 budget to the board of finance.

The board of education is proposing a $27.65 million budget, a $691,965 increase over the 2010-11 approved budget of $26.96 million. The meeting was at .

The board of finance sent a letter to all boards and commissions requesting that their budget proposals have zero increases for the 2011-12 budget. The zero increase is in spite of all contractual obligations, board of finance chairman Con O’Leary said.

As currently proposed, Windsor Locks will lose more than $1.5 million in state funding, O’Leary said. That is equal to one and a half mills in the tax rate, he added.

“If everybody was at zero we’d have to raise the taxes at $1.5 million to pay for the budget,” O’Leary said.

Patricia King, board of education chairwoman, said the schools budget is “educationally sound and fiscally responsible” and is an essentials only budget.

Superintendent of Schools Wayne Sweeney said the budget has no small amounts hidden in the budget that will be left over at the end of the fiscal year.

“If we have dollars left over next year, if we’ve had to lay off staff, then shame on me,” Sweeney said.

In the spending plan, administrators are taking four unpaid furlough days and uncertified staff members are getting no wage increases in 2011-12. No other union has agreed to any concessions, but they agreed in the current budget to no salary increases, officials said.

There are staff reductions through attrition and programs being redesigned, which saves about $250,000, Sweeney said.

King said the board of education asked Sweeney to show what would need to be done to bring the budget proposal to a zero percent increase.

Sweeney said using an average annual salary of $48,122 for certified employees, 14.4 positions would have to be cut. Using an average annual salary of $21,484 for non-certified employees, there would need to be 32.3 positions be cut to have a zero percent increase.

The reductions could be any combination of those employees or administrators or central office staff. Sweeney said the probable impact would be 17-22 positions.

Sweeney said a zero percent increase would: increase class size; reduce instructional support systems available to improve learning and teaching; slow down and potentially delay long-range planning; have a negative impact on staff morale; and slow down and potentially delay an increase in student achievement.

Karen Giannelli, who lives on Columbo Terrace, urged the board of finance to find a way to fund the schools’ proposed budget saying Sweeney had already cut $1 million from what he originally thought was a good proposal.

Giannelli said the condition of the schools affects her home, the town and her son’s future.

“Living is not free,” Giannelli said.

When O’Leary asked the packed room who supported the proposed 2.57 percent increase, nearly everyone raised their hands and no one raised a hand objecting to the proposal.