Southington School Budget Cuts Middle School Sports

The schools will also need to cut another million dollars.

The Southington Board of Education reluctantly approved a school budget, which has drawn sharp criticism, especially for cutting middle school sports.

Board members seemed hopeful the budget would be looked at again later this year and potentially some cuts might be restored.

“We saw the writing on the wall that this is what was going to happen,” Ann Morgan, of Southington, said.

Even so dozens of parents and students showed up at the board meeting and some pleaded against a school budget that would slash middle school sports.

But school board members received more bad news on Thursday.

They would now need to find a million dollars to cut, double the previous estimate.

“There is nothing that we are going to discuss tonight that anybody up here is happy about,” Brian Goralski, school board chairperson, said.

Also on the target list was leaving 14 positions unfilled and moving the resources from the world language pilot program from an elementary school to the high school.

But the board promised a newly formed group – made of district staff and parents – would work to find a way to keep middle school sports going, possibly through pay-for-play and fundraising.

“I think we can actually get it done. I think the community is really pushing for this and we’re willing to work hard. And we’re willing to get creative,” Morgan said.

There are still a lot of unknowns, including how the state budget will eventually affect school districts and their budgets.

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