State says town must pay school-related costs

WINSTED — The State Department of Education has ruled that the town must fund the school district $51,000 for crossing guards or else be declared in violation of the minimum budget requirement (MBR) for the 2010-11 school year.Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno announced the finding during a meeting of the Board of Education on Tuesday, June 14.In late May, Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno sent a letter to State Department of Education CFO Brian Mahoney asking for the town’s conduct to be investigated for not responding to a funding request made by the Board of Education.In Salerno’s letter to Mahoney, Salerno wrote that he hand delivered a letter of request to Town Manager Dale Martin for $154,430 for non-educational expenses that Salerno claims has become part of the district’s budget for this school year.According to information provided by the board, $68,612.31 has been spent by the district in snow removal, $25,339.34 for asbestos management, $51,000 for crossing guards and $9,478.38 for Berkshire Alarm.While the state ruled that the town must pay the $51,000 for the crossing guards, Salerno said it did not rule in favor of the school district for the other expenditures. “[The state] said there is not enough time to conduct an investigation related to snow removal, asbestos abatement and the other areas of funding,” Salerno told the board. “They gave the town two options: either to increase our expenditure rate by $51,000 or to seek a waiver.”Salerno said he had mixed feelings about the decision.“I get tired of people in high places who split the baby in half just to make everyone feel good,” he said. “When I read this [decision], I was not a happy camper. We spent [these funds] just to keep these buildings open and I feel that this is unfair.”“Our existing lawsuit does make reference to this issue,” board member Carol Palomba said. “We are already litigating this issue. It’s theoretically possible that a judge could litigate these issues and make a decision.”The discussion then turned to the emergency removal of snow from school buildings during this winter.“What [town building inspector Marc Melanson] told me, and there is nothing in writing, he simply walked in, is that I must have the buildings vacated,” Salerno said. “He told me he received word from a structural engineer [to do this]. He told me that if I took issue with his decision, I would have to hire my own structural engineer.”Board member Joseph Hanecak said that the roofs on the school buildings could have withstood much more snow and took issue with Melanson’s decision.“I think [the amount of snow] that fell was much less than what our roofs are rated for,” Hanecak said. “If that is a fact, if [closing the school buildings] was recommended by [Melanson] even though are roofs can hold much more snow, I think the town should be held responsible [for snow removal costs].”