Schools cut 17 positions amid budget shortfall

HAMDEN — As it struggles to cope with budgetary constraints, the Hamden Public Schools district has cut 17 positions for the coming school year.

Most of the changes do not require layoffs because they concern staff members already leaving the school system, said Superintendent of Schools Gary Highsmith.

The district is cutting one of its 14 security guard positions, one custodial position, two administrative positions, three of its 18 Scientific Research Based Intervention (SRBI) coordinators, three teaching positions at the secondary level and a school psychologist, according to a memorandum Highsmith sent the Board of Education.

Hamden also will reduce the number of teachers in elementary school classrooms by six, Highsmith told the New Haven Register, a move that “will not require layoffs due to resignations and retirements.”

The Board of Education approved the cuts on Tuesday, board member Walter Livingston Morton IV said in a statement.

Officials previously had warned cuts were likely due to the financial position of the town, which has one of the highest tax rates in the state. Many of Hamden’s fiscal woes are associated with a historic failure to put enough money into its pension fund, leaving today’s residents to deal with the debt.

This year, Highsmith had asked the town for a budget increase of about $9 million, which he said was necessary to maintain the district’s current level of services.

As it became clear that neither the mayor nor the Legislative Council was likely to grant that increase, administrators formed a deficit mitigation plan aimed at addressing the shortfall.

Ultimately, the town granted the school district a $3 million budget in

crease. In addition, the Legislative Council this week approved a memorandum of understanding allowing the district to use $3 million in proceeds from the sale of Wintergreen School toward the coming year’s budget, Highsmith said.

Because the funds are from the sale, the change will not impact taxpayers, he said. They also

will not affect Hamden’s minimum budget requirement, he said.

The state’s minimum budget requirement prevents towns from decreasing a school district’s budget allocation from one year to the next.

The district also is able to use $1.8 million that had been borrowed for the now-canceled middle school expansion for HVAC repairs, and it received an additional $1.2 million in Alliance Grant funding than originally

was anticipated

Highsmith thanked the Legislative Council both for the additional allocation it gave the district during budget deliberations, and for freeing up the Wintergreen proceeds for deficit mitigation.

“I do appreciate their understanding and their work,” he said.

But even with the Wintergreen funds, Highsmith, anticipating additional budgetary challenges in the coming years,

thought it prudent to make move forward with staff reductions.

“We have to not only look at this year’s budget, but we also have to be mindful about what next year’s going to look for us, because we’re not going to have the $3 million from the Wintergreen (sale),” he said. “It’s best for us to be more strategic now … so that we don’t find ourselves in a bigger hole next year.”

The district has estimated

that it will see a net savings of about $1.4 million from retirements and staff reductions, according to Highsmith’s memorandum to the Board of Education.

Board President Melissa Kaplan could not be reached for comment. A message also was lest with David Abate, president of Hamden’s teachers union.