New Canaan Council members question teacher bonuses

Educators’ extra pandemic payments prompt discussion

NEW CANAAN — The Town Council agreed on Wednesday to use over $700,000 in federal rescue plan funds as pandemic bonuses for teachers and town workers, but not before some members questioned why one group was getting more money than the other.

Of the $725,050 allotted for bonuses, $547,300 would be split between 697 school district employees and $177,750 for 240 town workers. The town workers, which include police, volunteer firefighters and EMS, are set to receive $750 each, while 427 certified school staff will receive $1,000 each and 270 non-certified staff will get $500 each.

However, newly elected councilman Rita Bettino said she had a “strong opinion” that the teachers should not be automatically receiving $1,000 while police and other town workers are getting less.

“I don’t think the perception (is) that great. I think we’re diminishing folks who worked a bit harder,” said Bettino.

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan explained the discrepancy in pay is consistent with how the employees are traditionally compensated.

“Town employees generally make two-thirds of what the Board of Education employees make. So that already exists,” he said.

Superintendent Bryan Luizzi added that the school board structured the bonuses with two different amounts since certified staff “really picked up on March 13 of 2020, worked all the way through the 2020 closure,” since the students learned remotely.

The non-certified staff will get less, “not that they work less hard, but in the closure their experience was different . ... So we felt like that distinction was an important one to make, given the different experiences of our certified staff versus non,” the superintendent said.

Bettino agreed with the district’s approach and questioned if it could be replicated at the town level.

“Is there a way to give everyone $500 so that they have something for Christmas and then decide in January who should get the extra $500 or 250?” Bettino asked.

But Moynihan said he did not want a “bifurcated process” similar to the school district, so instead opted to give town employees the same $750 each.

Meanwhile, councilman Maria Naughton suggested the town “just take the whole amount and divide it by the number of people and give everyone the same amount.”

The newly elected Chairman Stephen Karl wanted to move the process forward.

“I view this as a very, very happy moment at the holidays and we’re looking at this as a ‘thank you’ bonus for these folks,” he said. “And while I think we’d all like to give the max, we can’t start the process over again.”

“I think this is a wonderful thing that our town is doing, and they deserve every penny, new councilman Hilary Ormond said. “My great hope is that they get them in paychecks before Christmas.” But after the holidays, “I really do hope that there is a consideration about upping some town employees’ premium pay.”

Moynihan responded that the town has already given premium bonuses for select groups.

To date, the town has received $2.8 million and expects almost $3 million more by June 2022 in ARPA funds, which is a federal program providing $350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments. Besides the premium bonuses, the town also

decided on Wednesday use $1.3 million for seven other efforts.

Bettino made a pitch to allocate $60,000 for Live New Canaan, a marketing and promotional digital platform sponsored by the Board of Realtors used to promote the town. She said the website also sends emails to nearly 30,000 people to promote New Canaan, with 10,000 in town and 20,000 outside of town.

The selectmen agreed to spend $70,000 to continue modernizing the NCTV 79 equipment so it can facilitate two hybrid meetings at the same time. NCTV 79 allows the town to broadcast town meetings.

Waveny Park Conservancy will get $250,000 to match contributions received by the organization to help implement its five-year plan for the beautification of the 300-acre park.

Another $150,000 will be put in the parking fund, in accordance with APRA guidelines that allow municipalities to recoup revenue lost from the COVID-19 pandemic. The town may use that fund to renovate parking lots.

A trailer-mounted emergency generator with a price tag of $250,000 would be used for a backup generator for the YMCA, emergency services, police, fire, the highway department and the parks department. In case of an emergency, the generator could be used by the YMCA, so the facility on South Avenue could shelter people in a place where they could take showers, Moynihan said.

Another $250,000 will be used to complete construction of bathrooms for the Powerhouse theater complex, which would be available to park users year-round.

The vote also included $300,000 for Greenlink, a network of sidewalks to connect all town parks and the village. The proposed section of sidewalk would run on Old Stamford Road from Bristow Park to Gower Road, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.