The Board of Education for Norwalk Public Schools tabled a budget reconciliation vote at its meeting Tuesday after a contentious public comment section lasted four hours.
The board was set to vote on cuts for the district’s upcoming fiscal year budget, after Mayor Harry Rilling recommended a smaller budget but with an additional four percent in city funding.
According to information shared on the district's website, the request for a higher budget partly stem from higher special education and health care costs.
But another factor, is the end of federal aid in the form of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
The fund provided federal aid for local school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic. That's according to former Greenwich Public Schools teacher Aron Boxer, a former special education teacher who now owns a private tutoring company.
While recently increased state aid will help, Boxer said the end of the grants has led to budget shortfalls not only in Norwalk, but across the state.
“When you take away that funding, what winds up happening is kids get left behind, and that's what we're seeing now,” Boxer said.
Parents in Norwalk are upset at the potential impacts of the cuts, especially to music education.
According to school officials, the upcoming budget would lead to a shortfall of over $13 million. As a result, the board would have deliberated over approving a budget reconciliation which would lead to staff layoffs effecting most elementary school music teachers.
Among some of the positions which may be cut are all band and string instrument teachers at the elementary school level, except for those at Concord Magnet School and Wolfpit Integrated Arts School.
Rilling said in a statement the city is still working on additional funding resources.
“Norwalk Public School’s finance team and my finance team have been meeting on a regular basis and are doing everything we can to keep those vital programs in place and I’m optimistic that we will achieve that result,” Rilling said. “The city will continue working with the superintendent to address student and family concerns.”
According to the school’s budget meeting documents, the original budget proposal for over $255 million was reduced to $242 million per the mayor’s recommendation earlier this year.
Hundreds of parents crowded an auditorium at Norwalk City Hall on Tuesday evening, voicing frustration at the board. Many praised school music teachers, and said they were crucial to education.
Nicole Jean, the band director at West Rocks Middle School, attended the meeting and voiced concerns over potential cuts to arts education.
“I heard multiple people stand up here and talk about art teacher Jeff Smith,” Jean said. “I spoke about him at convocation, because he really changed my life and set me on a path where I felt like I could make music in my career.”
A dance teacher and staff at the central office would also face cuts.
Mary Yordon, president of Norwalk Federation of Teachers, criticized the potential cuts and said added city aid factored into the budget could prevent many layoffs.
“Cuts are being made to music education that has always been a priority here and visual arts, interventions, counselors, and much more,” Yordon said. We have consistently asked that student-facing positions be prioritized, and are disappointed that our students will be impacted by severe cuts at the building level.”
The school superintendent’s media spokesperson did not respond to Connecticut Public's request for comment.
