One hundred thirty-nine of the state's 167 school systems will see either eliminated or reduced funds from the state as a result of Governor Dannel Malloy's executive order running the state in the absence of a state budget.
The contrast couldn't be more stark than between East Windsor and Glastonbury.
East Windsor is classified as an Alliance School District, which means it is underperforming by state standards and Glastonbury is considered to be a more affluent, high-achieving school system.
East Windsor's interim superintendent Christine DeBarge said since East Windsor is expecting to at least receive something from the state when it comes to education funding, the school board has not made any drastic decisions when it comes to spending or hiring.
"We’re going to open as we planned with services as we planned based on the town budget that we got and you know we’ll make changes if we need to at a later date," DeBarge said Monday. "The kids show up on the first day of school no matter what.”
East Windsor anticipates it will receive at least something close to $1.4 million in Education Cost Sharing funds in October, the same amount that was appropriate for the previous school year. Overall, the system received $5.66 million last year.
East Windsor school officials have not frozen spending or hiring.
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The opposite has occurred in Glastonbury where both hiring and budget freezes were put into effect last Spring.
Alan Bookman, Glastonbury Public Schools' superintendent, said he understands the need for cuts, but said the manner with which the governor has made them isn't the right way of completing the task.
He said the blame should be placed on the entire State Capitol, and both Democrats and Republicans for their failure to approve a budget for the fiscal year. Instead, it's been 52 days and the General Assembly has not yet adopted a new two-year spending plan.
"We’re hopeful that they are going to pass a budget," Bookman said. "That doesn’t mean that we’re going to get all of the money that we got last year. It doesn’t mean that. But we hope it will be more reasonable and any cut that does come along would be more gradual than losing all of your ECS money in one year."
Glastonbury's education budget is just more than $100 million and depends on at least $3 million in cash from the state for operations, with the rest being used for town government.
That three percent disappearing, Bookman said, is what's led to freezes in spending and hiring, and said the budget could be frozen again if expenses are out of balance with costs.
Bookman warned, "There is no flexibility in this budget. If we get a bad winter and the heating season or the price goes up of gas for natural gas, we did not build in any money to accommodate that. We will be behind the eight ball and we will have to enact a budget freeze again."
He said everything when it comes to state aid remains unknown, but adds that the school system, like the others losing their funding, are going to have to make it work, so long as the uncertainty persists.
“We will be doing less and do the best we can for the students," Bookman said.
