Wow! What an incredible show of support for the Hamden Board of Ed's budget on Monday, Feb 25. Special thanks need to go to Sue Murphy, Melissa Stasiak and the Wintergreen parents. It was standing room only in the gymnasium (!), with over 100 people.
The BOE passed a revised budget that asks the Town for $77.7 million, a mere 3% increase over last year's budget. That is AMAZING considering that the fixed costs of salaries, healthcare, fuel, services and utilities will all go up at least 3%.
The reason so many Wintergreen parents were there, was because, if the BOE needed to make deeper cuts, Wintergreen would be the most affected. They stand to have kindergarten enrollment reduced, their 7th and 8th graders moved to the Middle School and possibly, the Board could take back the entire school.
At this time, there will be no changes at Wintergreen. So what's next?
The BOE budget goes to Mayor Henrici. Craig is a practical man who is both a product of and a great supporter of Hamden Public Schools. He understands that underfunding education is short sighted and counterproductive to maintaining the health and longevity of our town.
Immediately write Craig (chenrici@hamden.com) or call him (203-287-7100). Tell him, parent to parent, why you feel he should include the full amount the BOE is asking for in his budget.
The PTA Council would like to thank Superintendent Rabinowitz and her finance team, and the BOE Finance Committee, especially chair Ed Sullivan, for crafting such an austere and effective budget. Further, the documentation at meetings and on the HPS website (http://www.hamden.org/) is helpful and easy to understand. We greatly appreciate the effort the HPS Central Office has taken to make sure that we are all informed and included in this process.
We were preaching to the choir on Monday night; the BOE is totally allied with the parents in giving the best education they possibly can. They are also on the side of the tax payer, because just like a house, if you let the school system fall into disrepair, the property value goes down. The health and reputation of a school system is integral to property values and our economic vitality. If people start to flee because of a failing school system, there are less people to foot the bill and the taxes will most definitely go up.
The BOE budget hearing was a dress rehearsal. Besides the Mayor, the elected officials you need to encourage to fully fund this budget are on the Town Council. On the eve of (new date) April 9, 2008, I hope to see all of the folks who spoke so passionately about Wintergreen and all the other schools in our district at that public hearing for a repeat performance.
Not only do we need to make sure our local legislators fully fund education, we need to ask our state legislators to do the same. In an earlier post I outlined a number of funding issues that are determined at the State level.
On March 12, the Connecticut PTA will be sponsoring a "Day on the Hill." A bus from Hamden (and maybe even a bus just for Wintergreen!) will be going to Hartford (am to afternoon). There will be a rally and we will meet with the Hamden delegation. More details to follow.
Just like the crowd the Town Council can't ignore at a budget hearing, our legislators cannot ignore a mob of parents demanding proper funding of education on the Capital lawn. (You can also access all members of the CT House and Senate, as well as the Governor at http://www.ct.gov/.)
More details on this field trip will be forthcoming here, or you can send me a quick email to let me know you'd like to join the Hamden PTA Council email list.
I look forward to seeing you at our next Council meeting, Thursday, March 6 (location TBA), the Hartford trip and/or the Town Council hearing on March 12.
Thanks for your support and activism.
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