Don’t be fooled by Board of Education budget
I write in response to the usual handwringing about allegedly harmful cuts to the Board of Education budget in the news article titled “School board: $2M cut ‘does affect the children.’ ” This time, the complaints focus on the Board of Representatives’ decision to cut 0.66 percent, or $2 million, from a $304 million operating budget for fiscal year 2022-23.
These cuts are incredibly modest. They should have been much larger — in fact, Board of Finance members Dennis Mahoney and J.R. McMullen supported cuts that were $2.15 million more than what the Board of Representatives adopted. The district is flush with cash, including $54 million in stimulus money the district can spread out over four years. That money is in addition to Stamford Public Schools’ annual operating budget.
Further, the Board of Education ran an unserious budget process this year. We added frivolous expenses at the last minute, including those not requested by the administration, such as $75,000 for every graduating senior to receive a free highschool yearbook. At our final budget meeting, not a single budget cut that my colleague Becky Hamman and I proposed was accepted.
“Just wait for the re-allocation process after the other boards cut our budget,” we were told.
I disagree. If the Board of Education took seriously its obligation to scrutinize and suggest budget cuts for our own budget, then perhaps our other boards would be inclined to let the reasoned judgment of the Board of Education stand.
Since the current Board of Education has explicitly disavowed that approach, it falls to our other elected boards to responsibly balance the needs of the district with the needs of the taxpayers. I commend them for a job well-done.