Stamford schools to host budget “listening sessions” to hear from community - CT Insider

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STAMFORD — Stamford school administrators will host three “listening sessions” this week to gain input from the public as they embark on creating a schools budget for next fiscal year.

Superintendent Tamu Lucero said she got the idea to hold the sessions about a year ago, during the process of crafting the current year’s budget. After a February public meeting to discuss the proposed spending plan, in which people spoke passionately about saving some positions, including media center para-educators, Lucero thought people should have more time to provide input.

A week after that meeting, the Board of Education voted to approve the budget, not giving people much time to have a say before the document went to the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives for a final approval.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to hear some voices prior to finishing up the budget?” Lucero said Monday.

In the past, budgetary decisions were made based off input from a small advisory committee.

“My hope is that this draws in more people,” Lucero said. “I would love to hear some innovative ideas.”

She added, “I just hope that people use this opportunity.”

The first session will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and is designed for Stamford Public Schools staff to submit questions and comments. A separate webinar will be held on Wednesday at 5 p.m. for students, followed by a final session for families and community members on Thursday, starting at 6 p.m.

The district released a video on Monday explaining the budget process and timeline, as a primer for anyone interested in attending the listening sessions.

In the video, Director of Finance Ryan Fealey explains that the Board of Education will vote to approve its budget in February, followed by both the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives either approving the budget as is or making cuts.

After that, the Board of Education votes to reallocate the final budget amount, a process tentatively scheduled for May.

Over the past five years, the average increase to the Board of Education budget has been 2.28 percent.

In the eight-minute video, Fealey talks about eight budget “drivers,” which he said have an “outsized impact on the operating budget each year.”

That list includes enrollment, class size, contracts, health insurance, special education, transportation, maintenance and program efficiencies.

Enrollment in Stamford schools is expected to grow by almost 2 percent, or roughly 306 students, for the 2021-22 school year.

The presentation also includes a section titled “COVID-19 considerations” that includes special expenses due to the ongoing pandemic.

That includes $1.2 million spent on personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies funded by the federal CARES Act.

That federal grant, which provided $8 million to Stamford schools, also paid for custodial overtime, teachers for distance learning and technology support specialists, among other items.

“For next year, the district must consider the ongoing financial costs of COVID and how to fund them,” Fealey says, in the video. “To date, no additional federal or state funding has been guaranteed.”

Last year’s budget season was one of the most challenging in recent memory, as the school district was forced to cut $12.5 million, which meant eliminating 136 positions. Some of those spots, including the Stamford High School athletic director, were later salvaged.

Every month during that budget season, the public comment portion of Stamford Board of Education meetings would be dominated by calls to save positions and programs.

Many spoke in favor of salvaging cuts to the AVID college readiness program at the middle and high school levels, while others defended the need to maintain media center para-educators, who were also on the chopping block.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com

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