On Thursday the taxpayers of Seymour will return to the polls for the 4th time to vote on the proposed

budget for the Board of Education. The initial budget adopted by the BOE was a $1,535,742 increase or 5.15% over the prior fiscal years budget. That would have afforded the district the opportunity to not only retain all current services but also add a few needed positions at our middle and high schools, to decrease class sizes at the middle school and enhance offerings at the high school. Additional details regarding those positions can be found within the budget roadmap documents that are available on our district website. It is the charge of any BOE to advocate for the educational needs of the students within their district. As a board we have spent many hours analyzing, discussing and scrutinizing the line items of our budget to ensure that the funds that are allocated to the district via taxpayer funding are directed to the appropriate programs and those programs will provide the maximum benefit to our students. Over the past few years the BOE has worked very hard to respond to the economic challenges that have been presented. We have eliminated positions in the administrative ranks, including an elementary principal last year and an assistant principal at the high school a few years ago. The athletic director position was reduced to a part time position and the administrative intern program has been suspended. Upon staff retirements not all positions have been replaced. Contract negotiations brought zero wage increases in at least one year of the last 3 year contract for all bargaining units. As of 2007, all newly hired teachers no longer receive post retirement benefits. Virtually all non-union contracts also accepted a 1 year wage freeze or donated their scheduled increase back to the district. With each contract negotiation, employee contributions towards insurance and co-pays have been increased. And unfortunately over the years we have had to cut programs as well such as family and consumer science and technology education at our middle school. In our proposed budget, 5 positions have been eliminated as a result of the combining of the Chatfield and LoPresti Schools. If the two schools had remained separate we likely would have needed an additional teacher and would have had to retain those 5 positions as well. Several other positions have been reallocated resulting in a zero impact to the budget, for example transferring a special education teacher to the middle school as needs have shifted. The board must also work within the framework of educational law and make certain that as a district we are adhering to all state and federal mandates, whether they be funded or unfunded, pertain to students or staff, programs or paperwork that must be filed. Any potential reductions in force must be thoughtfully approached and the impact to students as well as the economics of those decisions must be completely understood. The total increase for just contractual obligations the BOE faces this coming fiscal year is approximately $1.5 million. With savings gained by combining the two elementary schools, energy, and health insurance, our required funding with no new programs is approximately $960,000. We are now faced with a 4th vote that would provide an additional $603,224 or a 2.02% increase to the BOE budget over last fiscal year if it does in fact pass. What this means is that we have already lost the opportunity to fund any new programs for the

upcoming year. The BOE must make cuts to cover the $357,000 gap. We have already discussed eliminating all new initiatives, deferring facility maintenance items and will now need to find additional areas to reduce in order to compensate for the $357,000 deficit in funding. We have heard the comments, suggestions and requests of the public as to what they would like the board to do. We understand that for many, even some parents, that financially, any increase is viewed as too much. We have heard the pleas to reduce administration and increase teachers and suggestions to cut benefits and pay. We have heard the requests to institute more programs in order to provide our students with as much enrichment as possible, to prepare them for college or a career. We understand how important our athletic programs are to not only our students but the community as well. We acknowledge that it is the desire of many townspeople to eliminate an administrator. Yes, the BOE can elect to eliminate positions but not specific individuals. Administrative costs account for a mere 5.8% of our overall budget. Our current administrative union contract allows for an eliminated administrator to bump back into the teaching ranks and for that year keep their administrative salary. Reducing an administrator position would cause a beginning teacher to lose their position and only provide about $52,000 or .15% in savings in this fiscal year. The only way in which the full cost of an administrator could be saved is in the event of a voluntary resignation and a board action to not replace that position. We would like nothing more than to be able to please all of you. However that is not possible. As we continue to look toward the future we have begun discussions to determine the feasibility of shared services with the town side of our government. By combining services like IT, facilities, grounds and maintenance in the future we believe we can continue to become more efficient. All we can do at this point is continue to advocate on behalf of the students in this district who deserve to go to school in safe, clean, 21st century facilities, who deserve to be provided with as many academic offerings and extracurricular clubs, activities and sports as possible, who deserve a quality teacher in their classroom and those teachers deserve to have principals, support staff and the superintendent in the district there to support, empower and encourage them to lead our students to success. And like it or not what they all deserve does not come for free. Voter turnout has not been strong throughout this referendum process. As fellow taxpayers any tax increase does affect us as well. As board members we volunteer our time at no cost to the town. We serve because we feel it is important to give back to the community and work diligently to continue to improve it. It is our sincere hope that taxpayers and specifically those of us that are parents will cast a vote in favor of this reduced budget amount on Thursday. Our students deserve our support and any additional cuts will certainly set the district back further not continue to move it forward. Thank you. Mr. Stanek, the Vice Chairman of the BOE, and I will now entertain any questions that anyone might have.