Kevin Pacelli ’14
EE Co Editor-in-Chief
A recent cut in funding to Trumbull’s education budget by the Board of Finance may present challenges for next year’s town students, according to Trumbull Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Gary Cialfi.
“This was a significant cut that was made just recently by the Board of Finance,” says Cialfi. “If we are not able to get the increase that we need from the Town Council, this will definitely impact staffing and programs.”
On Tuesday, March 4, a proposal was passed by the Trumbull Board of Finance that included a cut of $697,500 from the Board of Education budget. The proposal was accepted by a vote of 4-2. The new budget will be in effect for the 2014-15 school year. The budget process now moves to the Town Council who can decide to follow the Board of Finance’s recommendations or restore some of the cuts.
“I’m going to be optimistic right now and say that we’re not going to be at that point,” says Cialfi. “I’m very much looking forward with optimism that the Town Council will increase the budget from where it is right now.”
Although a budget cut will pose challenges that the Board of Education will have to overcome, it was not entirely unexpected. Dr. Cialfi stresses the importance of always being ready in case of any setbacks such as this one.
“I think that it’s always prudent to be well prepared for any kind of cut in a budget process,” Cialfi explains. “We were actually prepared for a response that would be more than we thought would be a slight reduction. I think that in any circumstance, it’s always best to be prepared for any extreme.”
Should the Town Council go along with the Board of Finance’s recommendations, the Board of Education will have to decide from where money should be taken away in order to accommodate for the cut. Dr. Cialfi already has ideas about which areas of the budget should be viewed as higher priorities.
“The actual core or the heart of this budget was to make sure that we had in place a proposal with strong justifications for 13.2 FTE’s [Full Time Equivalent staff members],” says Cialfi. “I think that staffing – teachers in particular, are a significant resource because they are closest to the students.”
Dr. Cialfi also emphasized the importance of technology and ensuring that every classroom at each public school in Trumbull has a SmartBoard. Currently only about two-thirds of middle school classrooms have these tools, which Cialfi describes as fundamental, and many classrooms from kindergarten through third grade are lacking them as well.
Dr. Cialfi also finds optimism in that fact that the town of Trumbull does such an excellent job of discussing issues such as this one.
“I think whenever there’s discussion about how much of a cut should be made, there are issues on both sides that are put on the table in terms of making sure that nothing was overlooked,” says Cialfi.
The budget will be further discussed on Monday, March 10, when the Board of Education will make a presentation to the Town Council.