Jobs, Services on Chopping Block as Windsor Schools Prepare to Make Cuts

Windsor town council members called it a compromise when both sides of the tabe voted to reduce the board of education's funding proposal by $100 thousand. The council was took care in conveying to those at the April 24 budget meeting that the reduction does not cut education funding, but rather reduces the amount it would increase.

Councilor Aaron Jubrey said Wednesday the reduction would only "slow growth," of the education budget, adding that it simply reduces the increase from $1.5 million to $1.4 million.

Board of education President Doreen Richardson didn't see the removal of $100 thousand from the district's proposed budget in the same light, however.

"It is a cut. I don't care what semantics you use. It is a cut," she said following the council's decision.

"It is a cut because we're going to have to make decisions, whether they're personnel decision or service decisions, with respect to what happens now."

While some may not see a $100 thousand reduction from the district's proposed $64 million budget as a large amount, Richardson said it wil make a significant difference.

"As we had said from the very beginning, there was no new spending in that budget. That budget reflected the work that's ongoing in the district. So if we're going to cut it, that means we have to eliminate something. Whether that's people or services, something has to go."

Compounding the effort of operating on, what she described as, "a very lean machine," Richardson said the district is faced with "continual mandates and reforms that are imposed from the state that cost significantly more than the state contribution to education."

With $100 thousand needing to be removed, the budget will be sent back to the superintendent's staff, not the board's finance committee, Richardson said.

Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Villar's staff will "go through all the line items to see what will make the least impact on children," according to Richardson.

"It really comes down to (Dr. Villar's staff) taking a really hard look at what we were prepared to do and what we can forego. It has to be a thoughtful process," she said.

"I know $100 thousand won't seem like a lot to folks, but to the board of education, that's a lot of money."