Schools

BOE Budget Gets Approved by Committee; Community Fights to Retain Teaching Positions

Faced with cutting 16.1 FTE positions and possibly another $100,000 from the BOE budget, parents, teachers and administrators make stance for their people and their piece of the pie.

Sixth grader Jack Nelson stood before the last Wednesday and pleaded with the group to save his music teacher Keith Traver at .

“Mr. Traver means the world to us.” Welling up, he continued, “He really pushed through. Yeah, I was not the best at music, but I think I learned the most from him.”

Gesturing toward the stage at WIS and speaking of Travers’ work with the school play, he stated, “Right here­, all the songs we sang were because of him.”

Find out what's happening in Branfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A similar story ensues for supporters of Elementary School physical education teacher Marco Imperati. Many came out to the regular BOE meeting and to Tuesday night’s RTM Education Committee Meeting in support of the two positions slated for cut in the district's physical education department.

Sporting pigtails, Sliney first grader Mallory Baughman read a testament of support for Imperati at the BOE meeting last week: “He is the best teacher in all my gym teachers. I am in first grade now at Sliney School. I hope he will be my gym teacher until I am in fourth grade so I can have the best gym teacher in Connecticut.” (There is an online petition for Imperati with more than 190 signatures, which can be signed here and downloaded above.)

Find out what's happening in Branfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nary a dry eye in the group when both Baughman and Nelson were done speaking– it’s undoubted that teaching positions are never easy to lose.

At Tuesday night’s RTM Education Committee Meeting, BOE Chairman Frank Carrano and Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez presented their budget, a more than $49 million dollar package, with the hope that it will be approved as is at the full RTM Meeting on May 10 where it will be voted on.

The teaching cuts, all 16.1 FTE (8.9 are certified FT positions), were proposed by the BOE with their back in February and reflect retiring persons as well as position cuts due to declining student enrollment, which is projected to 46 students overall for the 2011-12 school year.

The BOE proposed budget was a 3.68 percent increase over last year but the . Hoping to keep the increase at 3 percent and not see the number drop any lower, Carrano said to the members of the committee, “The 3.6 had already embedded in it, some very hurtful things and it was difficult for us to think in a positive way about voting for a budget that will eliminate 16 positions. That is something I have never done in my entire life and it wasn’t something that came easy to me.”

The 16.1 positions averages about $800,000 in savings for the BOE budget according to Hernandez and of those cuts, the 8.9 FT teaching positions will include cuts to the physical education/health departments as well as the choral programs.

While it’s unclear exactly where the cuts will come, the last hired, by contract, will be affected. Imperati’s position, will not be eliminated but a .5 position at WIS will–his full time position at Sliney will be filled by someone else and he would move into the .5 role at WIS. Though the BOE will not say which positions, exactly, will be changed until June, the have stated a full-time position at the elementary level of a health teacher will be cut; this teacher will return to the classroom in an academic capacity. It is understood that a .5 positon at the high school will be cut as well.

In the case of the choral program, Traver’s position will become a floating position between WIS and the elementary level–this will reduce the choral staff at the middle school for grades 5-8 to one teacher increasing class size from the teens to 20s. Called a feeder program for the BHS , the instruction of music is considered vital to many. If these cuts are carried out as planned, Tracy Zehner, music teacher at , will lose her full-time job to make way for the new floating position; a full time band position will be reduced to a .6 job.

After Tuesday's meeting, Traver said he was humbled by the community response and a department-wide petition to save the positions at WIS. You can download the petition in the photo section above.

Imperati has been working in Branford schools for more than five years and finally landed his position as a full-time physical education teacher at Sliney in January of 2006 after assistant coaching BHS girls’ soccer, long-term substituting and working as a paraprofessional.

Apart from helping Sliney students get through a tough year of challenges, which includes a school-wide fight for fellow classmate who was diagnosed with cancer this past fall, Imperati is recognized for his efforts in motivating students.

When he first came to Sliney, he said, he called on former Sliney physical education teacher and retired physical education teacher, Joan Callahan for guidance. On her lead, Imperati started working with older students in need of some extra guidance by bringing them into the younger grades’ classes to help teach. The mentoring was so successful that many fourth graders now work with younger grades as a morale building tactic for all students.

Jenn Stackpole, Branford High School physical education teacher who is responsible for her innovative class , brought facts before the RTM committee which stated: “Currently we are not in compliance with the state of Connecticut’s recommended amount of daily physical education.” The information provided, said that the physical education’s organization AAHPERD recommends a minimum of 150 minutes for K-5 students and 225 minutes for 5-12 students. Currently Branford provides 41-82 minutes for K-5 students, 108-162 minutes for 5-8 students and 90-135 minutes for 9-12 students.

Echoing this and the national trends of childhood obesity, Imperati stated, “It’s our responsibility to provide the learning especially in the elementary level because of the great opportunity to develop good habits.” 

To engage students, Imperati said he tries to focus his classes on education about an activity. “It’s not just moving for the sake of moving; it’s thinking.” (Imperati is also behind a at Ben & Jerry’s to raise money for the Sliney Field Day.)

As it stands, it’s fairly unlikely that teacher cuts will not happen; the declining student enrollment compounded by union contracts has forced the BOE to look to their staff department to reduce their budget. Education salaries and benefits make up about 80 percent of the total BOE budget, which is currently recommended by he BOF at $49,170,365–$324,235 less than requested by the BOE. As stated in their 2011-12 budget book, Hernandez and Carrano have noted that the final year of the collective bargaining agreement between the Branford Education Association and the BOE, is next year. Though there has been conversations between the BOE and the BEA according to Hernandez, the contracts will not be re-opened before the end of the agreement. A strong argument by the BOE is that the RTM approved this agreement and should honor the contracts. The new negotiations, the BOE states in their budget book, “may provide budgetary relief in the 2012-13 fiscal year.”

In order to move forward and onward–a necessary reality for passing the budget–the BOE had to get approval from the RTM committee on Tuesday. Though many in attendance were supporting their teachers and hoping to combat cuts it became obvious very quickly that advancing the budget as is would be step one. At the committee level no money can be added back to the recommended BOF amount, however, when the budget is presented to the full RTM on May 10, money can moved from one department to another.

In questioning Hernandez and Carrano, committee members were discussing even more cuts to the budget come next week. Committee member Josh Brooks (D) said he wouldn’t be surprised if another $100,000 was slashed. According to the Branford Seven, there is also talk of $100,000 being taken from the town budget as well.

Stating his support for education but his obligation to care for the town, Brooks stated, “I do not have the right to decide what is done with that $100,000; my decision is to make a balanced budget that incorporates the whole community.”

Some heated debate ensued regarding the lack of “shared sacrifice”–’s catch phrase from the state budget–in Branford. The town budget, which is proposed at $44,869,744­–about $20,000 more than requested–is being scrutinized by education supporters for not having enough concessions. Committee member Beth Bryan Almeida (R), stated, “It’s makes me sad that out of all the departments in town, the one that gets people to move to town, had to make cuts.” She continued, “I think it’s disgusting that our First Selectman is taking a raise (2 percent). Shame on him and shame on us if we let him get away with it.”

Committee chairwoman Maggie Bruno (D) added, following Almeida’s comment, that the town employees, including the First Selectman, had not had raises in two years.

RTM member of the Administrative Services Committee, Clare Torelli, stated as an audience member, that her department had in an effort to reduce the town’s budget. The total cuts after more than several meetings and hours of debate were more than $65,000.

All Committee members excluding Chairwoman Bruno, who did not have to vote, and Brooks who abstained, voted to pass the budget for the education department as is for the full RTM review.

The vote was relief for Carrano who said before the final count, “I agree with Superintendent Hernandez; we are not anticipating cutting programs but things will change in Branford Public Schools… everyone in town needs to understand that things won’t be exactly the way they are.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here