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Schools

Superintendent Burr Explains the 2011-2012 School Budget

Superintendent Freemen Burr explains next year's school budget to parents and teachers in a meeting at Perry Hill School.

The budget has gone down, student achievement has gone up; not quite the relationship one expects and a good case of how correlation does not equal causality. 

“We are doing more with less,” said Arlene Liscinski, 10-year Board of Education member.

The 2011-2012 projected budget includes a $1.86 million increase from the current 2010-2011 budget, but is still down from the $66 million budget from two years ago.

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Meanwhile, student achievement has been on the rise, with five Shelton schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) according to the Safe Harbor criteria in the No Child Left Behind program. Shelton’s progress over the last five years continues to outpace the state’s average, though by only a slim margin.

“I don’t believe we can afford any more cuts,” said superintendent Freeman Burr. “We need to create stability in the district.”

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One of the reasons for the increase is a change to the federal unemployment law that increase the time in which discharged employees can obtain unemployment compensation to 99 weeks.  In the change, the Board of Education and/or city is responsible for the first 26 weeks and now the last 40 weeks as well, with the federal government covering the tab for the 33 weeks in-between.

This will be a pricy change as even after significant rehires at the end of last December, there are still 84 employees still receiving compensation from the layoffs last July, when 122 employees received their pink slips. 

The Board of Ed estimates this year’s unemployment costs to be approximately $800,000, but potentially up to $1 million, depending upon how many people gain employment within the next year.

The budget, in its current incarnation, still requires $1.7 million in new revenues to be viable. Though if the city and Board of Alderman vote to continue to cover unemployment liability as they did last year, the mismatch in funds drops to $962,000.

This budget would also restore three guidance counselor positions, two and a half library media positions and a position for a library media aide for the extended day schedule. 

“Our request this year is an extremely modest request,” said Burr.

The Budget will be presented again on Tuesday in the Shelton Intermediate School Auditorium at 7 p.m.

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