City tells state: Fund schools equitably
“My students deserve not to fall between the cracks of an underfunded school system.”
Erin Daly, president of the Danbury teachers’ union and a teacher at Pembroke Elementary School
DANBURY — A mother once knocked on Luanelly Iglesias’ door, selling jewelry because she had no food and was fearing eviction.
The mother was a parent of one of Iglesias’ students at Rogers Park Middle School, and the bilingual teacher said she has heard similar stories from families in dire straits during the coronavirus pandemic.
“My students, I have seen them become depressed and sad because they’re worried about their parents,” said Iglesias, who teaches students learning English and was once an English learner herself.
It’s one of the reasons she and roughly 50 educators, students, parents, union leaders and other community members rallied Wednesday evening at Rogers Park Middle School to demand the state fund public schools like Danbury equitably.
Recovery for All, a new statewide coalition of community, faith, and labor organizations, planned the rally as part of its effort to demand a state budget with school funding, affordable housing, fair taxes, access to affordable healthcare, and economic and racial equity.
“We need a state budget that helps those in the greatest need,
community,” said Mark Chory, a citizen member of the committee. “It seems to me that with more intervention post-COVID that we could utilize this authority in a more structured way that doesn’t just have to be related to having concerts or so forth. It could be an educational component.”
The Ives authority is a quasi-municipal nonprofit organization that manages the park on Western Connecticut State University’s Westside campus. City funding accounted for about 11 percent of the authority’s annual budget, with the rest coming from donations, event revenue, sponsors and grants.
The park used to attract thousands of people to events like the annual reggae, Ecuadorian and Grateful Dead festivals, but that was not possible during the pandemic.
Events after last March were canceled, and the city cut the authority’s budget to zero this fiscal year. Mayor
Joe Cavo had said before Tuesday’s meeting that he doubted any festivals would happen in 2021.
But the authority’s challenges began before COVID-19. The venue had struggled to attract and afford popular performers. Since the venue is outdoors, the authority sometimes needed to postpone or cancel in the rain and would lose money.
The park went from hosting big names like Willie Nelson, Steely Dan and the Beach Boys to, for example in 2019, hosting a water lantern festival.
“We had assessed our situation pre-COVID,” Alexander said. “COVID was just the last straw. The cost of mounting shows that draw regionally that are high profile has become unmanageable with the risk of bringing the guarantees we have to give.”
The authority is named for Charles Ives, the composer who was born and buried in Danbury, and his name and legacy are important to the city, committee members said.
“With the namesake of
Charles Ives, I can’t see us disbanding,” Chory said. “I would rather see other organizations morph into the Charles Ives Authority.”
The authority has felt like it’s competing with organizations and was unsuccessful when it tried to partner with other groups a couple years ago, Alexander said.
“We’re trying to make room for things to bloom,” she said.
To restart, the authority would need to invest in a sound system and staff, who were furloughed last year, she said.
The authority has minimal assets, such as furniture and iPads, and owes $18,000, which the city would likely need to cover should the board disband, officials said. There are also no remaining members of the authority, which voted to close.
The state owns the majority of the about 40-acre park, but the city owns roughly 1.5 acres and would need to figure out what to do with its portion.
“I would never be in favor of selling that property
under any circumstances,” said Vinny DiGilio, City Council president.
Without the authority, arts could continue through Western Connecticut State University, where Alexander is the provost and vice
president of academic affairs, she said. The city plans to turn the First Congregational Church into a performing arts venue.
“We expect to have a continued, rich, arts community,” Alexander said.
“Whether or not this board is the best function to do that or some of the other entities in the city of Danbury, we don’t know. But we do know as it’s currently configured, it is not sustainable.”