Stonington Board of Education outlines cuts

Stonington — Extra help for students struggling with math, sports and extracurricular activities and transportation to some of the region’s magnet schools.

Those were some of the items the Board of Education said Thursday it will have to cutfromtheproposed2012-13 budget after the Board of Finance trimmed the proposed $ 1.3 million increase in the school budget by $ 300,000 two weeks ago.

The school budget now stands at $32.9 million.

The school board wanted to detail the items in advance of the upcoming second budget referendum so residentsknow what items had to be cut after voters rejected the budget at the first referendum.

If the budget is again defeated on June 5, the finance board will likely further cut the budget increase, meaning the school board would have to eliminate additional items.

“We better all hope it passes this time,” board Chairwoman Gail Macdonald said. “Because if not, it won’t even be standing still, it will be about backtracking. It already is.”

The school board is actually looking for $352,000 in cuts because it wants to add an administrator so both West Broad Street and West Vine Street schools can have one at all times. The two schools currently share a principal, and parents have pushed the board to add the position.

Superintendent Leanne Masterjoseph said teachers and staff will not be able to do what’s expected of them with the cuts. But she said the people in the trenches “will not let these kids down. They’ll do the work they need to do.”

Oneof themostdifficult cuts for the board was the elimination of $120,000 to hire two instructors to help students who are struggling with math.

“It pains me to see this on the list,” board member Kevin Bornstein said.

Masterjoseph said the cut will move the school system backward.

The board agreed to cut $15,400fromsportsand$4,600 from extracurricular activities. About $550,000 is spent on those items each year.

Close to $40,000 was eliminated for extra mental health assistance for students at Mystic Middle School and for additional foreign language instruction at the high school.

As board members expressed reservations about cutting certain items, MacDonald told them that unless they have suggestions for other big cuts, “this is the list.”

“I think this is what the public needs to see as they head to vote,” she said. j.wojtas@theday.com