Emotional debate at town meeting

WINSTED — Emotions ran high Monday, May 2, at The Gilbert School as residents discussed the proposed town budget for fiscal year 2011-12.In April, the Board of Selectmen approved a proposed budget of $30,732,523, sending the figure to Monday’s annual town budget meeting.The town side of the budget stands at $11,402,127 while the education budget comes in at $18,600,000 — which is $2,820,561 less than what the Board of Education recommended.“This is a lean budget in terms of where we were a few years ago,” Mayor Candy Perez told the audience of 134 residents. “But this is what the Board of Selectmen put forward to you all.”At the meeting in April when the selectmen approved the budget, Perez, along with fellow Democratic Selectman Michael Renzullo, voted against the proposed budget.Selectman Ken Fracasso is one of the four selectmen who supports the proposed budget.At the town meeting, he spoke in favor of the budget and cited a declining student enrollment in the school district as a reason for the cut in the school district’s budget.“According to [school building reports], the four school buildings have the capacity of 2,436 students, but right now we have less than half of that in the district,” Fracasso said. “We feel that the school system has super sized themselves more than enough. Therefore, we feel that there needs to be a reduction. These [proposed budget figures] are realistic numbers and not some sort of pie in the sky numbers that we came up with over some drinks. We worked long and hard to come up with a figure to benefit both the students and taxpayers of the town who bear the burden of paying this. “When you have a decline in enrollment, the only prudent thing we see is some sort of relief. I can liken it to a family with four children. When two of those children go off to college, their food bill gets lower and there are two less mouths to feed.”In contrast, Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno asked residents to vote against the budget.“This budget does not include sufficient funds to offer instructional programs that will meet the needs of the our children,” Salerno said. “We are looking at the reduction of 16 teachers just to get to the minimum budget requirement [MBR]. In order to make a town grow, we must invest in our schools and our children. Our needs are great because the needs of our children are great. This budget does not meet our needs.”Resident Russell Dutton Buchner told the audience that he supports the proposed budget and blamed The Gilbert School for most of the budget increases.“Budgetary data shows that The Gilbert School has overcharged and underperformed for our students,” Buchner said. “The Board of Education is seeking funding to keep at least one empty school building open. In my mind, they are trying to follow the lead of The Gilbert School. Apparently, the cost savings to send the seventh and eighth grades to the under-performing Gilbert School have evaporated. The private school has wrecked the town by overcharging year after year, decade after decade. We cannot afford the costs of an empty school and a poorly managed private school.”Board of Education Chairman Kathleen O’Brien spoke after Buchner and asked residents to vote against the budget.“Did your gasoline bill go up? Has your heating bill gone up? Did the amount you pay for health insurance go up?” O’Brien asked the audience. “Everything has gone up. To expect that the amount for education to not go up is pretty crazy. We need to take care of the children and what’s best for them. Please vote no.”The next speaker, resident Michelle Grant, said that, while she agrees with Buchner’s statements about Gilbert, she does not support the proposed budget.“My 9-year-old son has nothing to do with all of these politics,” Grant said. “I am very disappointed with Gilbert School costs. At the same time, it makes me mad that the selectmen feel that my son is not worth the MBR. Regardless of how I feel about Gilbert or local politics, I want my son to get a good education. I want my son to get a good education.”Jay Budahazy was next to speak to the audience and asked residents to vote for the budget.“The teachers [in the district] make between $90,000 and $130,000 in both salaries and benefits,” Budahazy said. “Connecticut has some of the highest paid teachers in the country, and the salaries of [Winsted] teachers are above state teachers. Stop being misled by a superintendent of schools who is going to be out of here by June 30. He just wants to get his money and get out. The same with the chairman of the Board of Education. She just wants to sell her house and get out.”Townspeople sent the budget, without further cuts, to a Saturday, May 28, referendum. That vote takes place from from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Pearson Middle School.