Referendum will move forward on New Canaan school district budget

“A thousand signatures is already a powerful statement. If the referendum is successful, then town government and the Board of Education are going to relook at all our options.” Chairman of the New Canaan Town Council John Engel

NEW CANAAN —Town Clerk Claudia Weber has verified the 682 signatures needed to force a referendum on the school budget. She confirmed the total has been collected and counted on April 11.

Town Council has 30 days from the date of the filing with the Town Clerk, which was May 7, meaning the vote should be held before June 6.

Then, to complete the referendum action, there needs to be a majority of those voting and equal to at least 15 percent of the number of electors in town, equaling approximately 2,055 votes. However, the number is “fluid until the day of the referendum,” Weber told Hearst Connecticut Media.

The referendum calls for the $92.3 million school budget, voted upon by Town Council, to return to the Board of Finance for reapproval.

The Board of Education is the only town body with the authority to change line items on the school budget, according to state law. The Town Council and the Board Finance only have the authority to reduce the entire budget by the desired amount.

The petition had blown past those needed, with 1,000 signatures according to Jennifer Dalipi, an advocate for the referendum.

“A thousand signatures is already a powerful statement. If the referendum is successful, then town government and the Board of Education are going to relook at all our options,”

Chairman of the Town Council John Engel said.

“Parents don’t want to cut the school budget. They‘re sending a signal. They want to feel they’ve been heard,” Engel said.

The signal they are sending, advocates say, is a desire for different school start time scenarios to be considered than the one in the 2021-22 budget.

“A ‘yes’ vote overrules the Town Council action and returns this back to the Board of Finance for reconsideration of the proposed $463,337,” for school start times, Weber clarified in a written summary.

The Board of Finance would have the final say. No other boards would be involved.

A ‘no’ vote affirms the Town Council vote and keeps the budget as approved by the Town Council.

Advocates of the referendum have opposed the three-tier bus scenario to change start times for New Canaan High School students that the budget accommodates, saying it would negatively affect the younger students. Referendum supporters argue for a start-time schedule reliant on a two-tier bus schedule instead.

Those opposed to the referendum believe the town should trust Superintendent Bryan Luizzi’s plans, since he has proven himself in his adeptness in running the schools throughout the pandemic.

The referendum would reverse a vote taken by the Town Council in March, when Councilman Mike Mauro made a motion, seconded by Maria Naughton, to reduce the Board of Education budget by $463,337, the amount projected for a change in start times 2021-22 midyear.

The motion failed with a 10-2 vote, with only Mauro and Naughton voting in favor.

The two-system proposal would mean students from the high school, Saxe Middle School seventhand eighth-graders and South School would start at 8:15 a.m. This plan would mean South’s school day would end at 2:45 p.m., with the middle school and high school both at 2:50 p.m.

The second tier would be comprised of Saxe Middle School fifth- and sixthgraders, East School and West School students and would begin at 9:10 a.m., with an end time of 3:40 p.m.

“If that scenario — or another one that was later for high schoolers but not extremely early for elementary — there wouldn't have been the impetus for a referendum in the first place,” parent of elementary school twins James Basch said.

The two-tier system for a full year would cost an additional $1.4 million over the 2020-21 budget, for a total bus and van cost of $4.6 million, to increase the number of buses from 33 to 47, according the materials issued by the Board of Education.

That would mean the 2021-22 budget would increase by nearly $235,000, since the new hours are planned to start midyear, and there is the $463,000 in the budget, proponents of the referendum say.

“I see this as a public health issue,” Basch said. “I'm not as sensitive to cost as I would be for other taxpayer expenditures.”

The Board of Finance would “revisit the budget. I am not sure how it would play out. I think it depends a lot on how the votes in the referendum turn out,” Board of Finance member Michael Chen said. The finance board “certainly needs to take that into consideration as we represent the will of our taxpayers/residents.”

Only qualifying taxpayers would be allowed to vote. “A qualifying taxpayer would be any person who is a U.S. citizen, is 18 years of age or older, who, jointly or severally, is liable to the town for taxes assessed against him/her on an assessment of not less than $1,000 on the last completed grand list. This would not apply to LLCs, Corporations or Trusts,” Weber’s explanation states.

Absentee ballots may be issued. Use of the Secretary of the State’s drop box is not permitted. If the date is after May 20, COVID-19 would not be allowed as an excuse for an absentee ballot, Weber said.