NFA OUTLINES ITS PLANS FOR NATIONAL SCHOOL WALKOUT

Norwich — The Norwich Free Academy student body will gather on the athletic field Wednesday for a non-political show of support for the victims of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting and to stand in opposition to school violence.

The event is part of a National School Walkout planned for 10 a.m. Wednesday.

NFA students and staff who choose not to participate will be directed to specific areas within their classroom buildings, school officials said.

Participating students will begin by walking together on the school track and will gather at the center of the football field. At 10 a.m., student speakers will begin a program that will include students reading brief biographies of each of the 14 student victims who lost their lives in Parkland, Fla. A bell will toll for each victim, and a final bell will signify the goal to end school violence.

Norwich police plan to participate in the event, assisting NFA Campus Safety Department with security and to walk and stand with the students.

The event was planned for “rain or shine,” but school officials said if today’s projected snowfall makes the field inaccessible, student planners will be involved in making any alterations to the plan. anticipated snowstorm.

The meeting will include a vote on the preliminary $83 million 2018-19 school budget, a 9 percent or $6.88 million projected increase. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.

The school board’s budget expenditure committee last week rejected any effort to cut the proposed budget by reducing staff or eliminating programs. Without taking a vote, eight of the nine members of the full board in attendance at the meeting expressed support for the budget as presented. In a statement read by board Chairwoman Yvette Jacaruso, also chairwoman of the budget committee, the board would explore seeking court action if the City Council failed to provide adequate school funding.

A week earlier, the committee unanimously rejected a controversial proposal to restructure six of the city’s elementary schools by grade level, a move that would have saved an estimated $800,000.