Cheshire Passes School District Budget by Comfortable Margin
Superintendent Robert Putnam explains to the special town meeting what could happen if the state takes over the school district.
The second time was the charm at Monday's special town meeting, scheduled solely to vote on the town's $3.1 million assessment to the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District.
The assessment passed 85-37 vote, ensuring the $19.2 million fiscal 2017 budget for the regional school district.
Town meeting agreed to take the vote by secret ballot so that people would not feel pushed to take a side in what has been an emotional debate.
"I want Adams-Cheshire to provide the best education that we can and the additional positions this budget allows us to have will improve education, and I believe the reorganizing of the district ... is also going to allow us to provide a better education," Superintendent Robert Putnam said. "This is the best way we can meet the needs of all of the kids."
Monday's meeting was a rehash of June's nearly three-hour town meeting during which a majority of the more than 200 voters in attendance rejected a school budget that reflected the closing of Cheshire Elementary School.
Although only 122 people attended the Monday's meeting, it still ran an hour and a half.
The budget passed by a comfortable margin, but did not sail through without opposition.
Advisory Committee member E. Richard Scholz suggested rejecting the budget and letting the state take over the school district.
"They will set a budget at which time we would all have an opportunity to provide input to them about what is important to us," he said. "I would like to see a larger budget and there is no way we are going to get a larger budget this year unless this one gets voted down."
If the budget did not pass Monday night, a districtwide vote with all eligible voters in both communities would be held. If a budget still was not in place by December, the state would take over the district.
Advisory Board member Justin Kruszyna said rejecting the budget may give Cheshire more leverage against the larger Adams.
"I am tired of seeing Adams control the budget and being at their mercy," he said. "I think there is more that we can do as a town and we need to move forward as a community. We need our independence back we don't need to be told what to do by another town."
Putnam said the state takes fiscal control over the district and only aims to make it fiscally sustainable until the communities can come to an agreement. He said the commissioner of education must sign off on any fiscal operation and can take any action to create fiscal sustainability.
He said they will not change the district agreement or significantly change the district in the ways the Advisory Board suggested.
"It's not warm and fuzzy ... what they want to do is to make sure the school district is functioning but they aren't going to reach in and tell people how to run their schools."
Paul Astorino, a former selectman, said Advisory Board members and other residents should stop gambling with the children's education.
"We are here to try to provide an education to the kids and this will tie the school's hands," he said. "You can't straighten out this mess in one year and you are going to make the children suffer while you guys hammer out how the hell we are going to get even with Adams. You're nuts."
Selectwoman Carol Francesconi added that not passing a budget Monday would not only hurt students but the town. Without a complete budget in place, the town cannot set a tax rate.
"I was as upset as anyone else with the closing of Cheshire School ... but if this is not passed we cannot send out a tax bill," she said. "We will not have the money that we usually have accumulated from tax revenue and we may have to borrow money and that could cause a great deal of trouble."
Much of the arguments on Monday were reiterations of discussions that took place at prior meetings, however, it was asked if there was a definite number of kids leaving the district.
Putnam said the current number is around 30 but this number will not be known for sure until school starts.
School Committee member Darlene Rodowicz added that this equals about $5,000 per student and that school oficials have programmed this possible reduction in the budget.
It was also asked what the town plans to do if the budget moves forward.
Francesconi said the town plans to reopen the district agreement, meet with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and possibly reach out to other school districts within the region.
Tags: ACRSD_budget, cheshire school, fiscal 2017, special town meeting,
