Stratford teachers plan rally, warn of possible school closure
STRATFORD — Teachers will rally outside Town Hall Monday and are asking residents to join them in urging officials to increase school spending in next year’s budget or face serious consequences in the form of layoffs, program cuts, or worse.
In a May 4 letter to teachers obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media, Superintendent Uyi Osunde said the “significant reduction measures (which we’re hoping is not probable) but could include a consideration of a school closure.”
In March, Mayor Laura Hoydick outlined a budget proposal for 2022-23 that included a 2.5 percent increase for the Board of
Education, short of the 4.57 percent it asked for in its budget proposal. In total, the school board had sought a $125.7 million budget, but Hoydick proposed allocating just under $123.2 million.
Osunde did not respond to a message seeking comment Saturday.
In an email, Board of Education Chair Andrea Corcoran did not comment directly on the possibility of a school closing, but said the mayor’s budget proposal “is gravely concerning.”
“Every staff member in each of our buildings is an important piece of our educational puzzle; losing even one of them — let alone many — could have real impacts on our students’ success,” Corcoran said.
Mike Fiorello, president of the Stratford Education Association, the union which represents the town’s public school teachers, posted a call to action on the SEA Facebook page noting “possible scenarios of staff cuts and a school closing” asking others to join him on the lawn outside Town Hall at 5 p.m. Monday, in advance of the Town Council’s monthly meeting.
Reached by phone Saturday, Fiorello said the superintendent’s inclusion of a possible school closing in the letter to educators came as a surprise.
“We all knew that if the Town Council approves what the mayor proposed as a budget, there’d be layoffs of teachers, administrators, and non-certified staff,” he said. “I was surprised by the possibility of a school closure.”
Fiorello said he doesn’t know how much of a possibility a school closure would be. Prior school administrations — Osunde was hired in Stratford last year — have discussed closing one of the town’s elementary schools, with the Franklin, Lordship, Nichols, and Wilcoxson among those discussed in the past.
In the May 4 letter to teachers, the superintendent said the mayor’s budget proposal “raises significant concerns,” and that school officials would begin having “informal conversations” with teachers and other staff who could be “impacted.”
Stressing that the district’s cost reduction scenarios “are still in proposal state,” Osunde wrote that “it is important to note that despite the scenarios we have constructed and in order to reduce and have a reasonable chance at running an effective academic program for Stratford students in the next academic year, we still recognize that we are approximately $1 million away from the 2.5% town appropriation.”
“This hard truth now requires us to look at significant reduction measures (which we’re hoping is not probable) but could include a consideration of a school closure,” the superintendent’s letter said.
Fiorello also expressed concern about an amendment to the state budget recently approved by lawmakers that would exempt the town from the minimum budget requirement mandating towns not decrease local spending on schools year over year.
The union is worried that will use additional state funds the town anticipates receiving due to its recent designation as a low-performing “Alliance District” as a means to reduce local spending on schools.
“It’s concerning because the proposal (from the mayor) is for a 2.5 percent increase over last year,” Fiorello said. “If this goes into effect, it could be zero or less than zero.”
“We were placed on the Alliance District list because of performance indicators,” he said. “Spending less is not going to make things better. We need to invest in students and schools in order to make things better for the school system.”
Hoydick did not respond to a message seeking comment Saturday.
The Town Council’s Ordinance Committee is expected to consider the mayor’s budget proposal Monday, with the full council scheduled to take up the budget at a meeting Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.