All-Day Dominates Discussion as Support Overwhelming for Education Budget

There were 18 speakers who took to the podium at DePaolo Middle School Monday as the Southington Board of Finance held a public hearing into the 2013-14 proposed budget and all but three had the same message: fund the full Board of Education proposal and support the implementation of all-day kindergarten.

All-day kindergarten and funding for the Board of Education dominated the discussion at the annual budget hearing and the support for the proposed $2.89 million increase in educational funding was overwhelming.

Fifteen people stood in support of the education proposal, $85.33 million in all, as parents, teachers, PTO members and general residents preached that an investment in education is an investment in the future of tomorrow and the community as a whole.

“There is no greater investment that the town can make in economic growth than to contribute through the Board of Education budget,” said John Yuskis, resident and parent of school-aged children. “It’s all about academic readiness and future of children; the greatest asset in town has to be children.”

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The town’s $131 million budget as presented to the Board of Finance represents a total increase of 0.67 mills, with the Board of Education budget making up the majority of the town's budget. The proposal includes funding in the range of $400,000 for the implementation of an all-day kindergarten in the 2013-14 school year.

James Williamson, a local resident, said he sees this request as a necessary and realistic budget designed to help maintain and even improve an already great local school system.

Although Williamson’s children are no longer in Southington schools, he said he sees the investment as one which will help stabilize and even spark real estate sales and increase the tax base in the community, noting that education is the first thing that realtors ask about when residents are seeking to buy a new home.

“It’s a way to protect the investment of every taxpayer in the community,” said Williamson, who moved to Southington from lower New York and instantly saw a 30 percent decline in his property tax bills. “We can’t spend enough on educational resources as far as I’m concerned. To live in this town, with the mill rate what is, is a great deal.”

But not everyone believed that now is the best time to implement an all-day program or ask for a $3 million increase in spending, especially as the economy continues to struggle.

Pamela J. DePaolo said while she supports looking forward and continuing to the progress of Southington schools, she believes that given a struggling economy, the town should take a “phase in” approach to programs such as all-day kindergarten to provide further study on it’s success and to reduce taxpayer costs.

“In a year where jobs scarce, when wages are staggering and the state deficit is now $140 billion, I would like to see a more moderated increase,” DePaolo said. “In this state of economy, (the Board of Finance) has to consider the difficulties meeting so many people, the seniors on fixed incomes, the young people who can’t afford go to post-secondary education, the balance between needs and affordability.”

With these concerns in mind, others including Art Cyr and Lakshmi Frechette called the all-day kindergarten program “a waste of taxpayers money” and advocated for cuts in the education budget.

Frechette, who has spoken against the program for the better part of six months, said Monday that studies show no conclusive evidence that an all-day kindergarten program provides any benefit in a middle class community. In fact, she said studies have shown gains from such a program are often lost by grade 3.

When it comes to education, Frechette said the best answer is to encourage a promote parent involvement in a child’s life and the best way to do so is not through “taxpayer funded” daycare at the kindergarten level.

Board of Finance Chairman John Leary said the board will have some tough challenges ahead as they look to work through a finalize a recommended budget for the Southington Town Council, balancing the needs of the town against the taxpayers ability to pay, but School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. asked them to consider the schools and trust that the Southington Board of Education has only asked for what is needed.

“I stand before you this evening asking each as an individual and as a body of one to be a trailblazer rather than a historian, to have the courage, to have the knowledge and to have the inner strength and the conviction to say I’m in,” Erardi said. “I am asking you to support every dollar as presented by the Southington Board of Education.”

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