Darien High School, exterior with sign, photographed on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
File / Raga Justin / Hearst Connecticut Media /DARIEN — Parents and teachers say they are worried that growing pressure from the Board of Education may lead to the loss of crucial staff and programs, with approximately $1.2 million shaved off the latest version of the school budget.
After hearing recommendations from the school board, superintendent Alan Addley presented a revised version of the proposed 2023-24 budget, now $114,777,778 compared with the originally proposed $116 million budget. The budget for the 2022-23 school year was $110,607,016.
The revised budget took into account many of the board’s recommendations, including eliminating four full-time equivalent secretarial positions, and additional building substitute, field trip and competition funds for robotics, among others.
The administration did recommend against some of the cuts proposed by members of the board, including elimination of American Sign Language, a coordinator for the high school Wellness Center and Genius Hour at Middlesex Middle School.
Several parents spoke against some of the cuts during the board’s Jan. 31 public hearing. According to Chairman David Dineen, some members of the community requested the meeting be canceled claiming information was released too late.
Darien High School science teacher Sara Hesslesweet spoke against the secretarial cuts, particularly changing the science secretary position — a position she said was historically held by a person with two master's degrees — to a paraprofessional who, she said, would require years of training.
“With the reduction in department expertise that would result from the loss of the science secretary position, my children would not have the same quality science experience that has so long distinguished Darien school,” she said.
Mark Sheehan, a representative for the secretarial union, said the reassignment of some work responsibilities without collective bargaining could violate the secretarial union contract.
Director of Human Services Marjorie Cion later said that the district was not assigning any work solely designated as secretarial and therefore not in violation of the contract.
One of the more protested potential cuts was the elimination of staffing needed to make American Sign Language a new world language option at the high school, a cut proposed by member John Sini.
In its memo to the board, administration recommended against the cut, as did several parents during the public hearing portion of the meeting.
Parent Lindsey DeVito, who has two children with severe to profound hearing loss, said the program was long overdue as a way to support inclusivity and address a global rise in hearing loss.
“Students who do not learn well auditorily or struggle with grammar, phonology or syntax of a foreign language would benefit tremendously from ASL,” she said. “It's clearly an accessible way to give students the opportunity to pursue a world language.”
There are some potential cuts that the Board of Education has yet to agree on, such as whether or not to keep Genius Hour at Middlesex Middle School. The program allows students to pursue independent research projects in their flex time.
Board member Tara Wurm suggested the cut. However, member Julie Best brought up that the program was only approved last year.
“Since it's only run a few sessions so far, I feel like we owe it a little more time,” Best said.
Administration recommended against the cut in its memo, with the caveat that the program could be evaluated after the first full year.
Administration additionally opposed the board’s suggestion that the district’s department chairs take on teaching responsibilities, citing scheduling difficulties and a lack of availability to their students given the chairs’ other responsibilities.
The common theme of the evening was concern about whether too much strain was being placed on existing staff in the name of efficiency.
Council of Darien School Parents Budget Chair Sara Goertel alleged the administration was “under duress” from the Board of Education to make cuts that could “place additional burden on our already strained teachers.”
Dineen defended the “collaborative” budget process between the board and administration, calling Goertel’s claim “dangerous words.”
“I think using words like that don't help the conversation around the budget,” Dineen said. “While these are tough decisions, it's tough economic times and there's tough contracts and there's tough economic headwinds approaching us. If we don't look at this stuff and have the conversation around it, it just makes it more and more difficult to continue to invest in education for our students.”
Addley also addressed the “duress” comment, saying that the administration wasn’t under duress, as the board has the charge to ask the superintendent to cut certain items.
“These are things that I don’t want to do. If that counts as ‘under duress,’ I don’t know,” he said. “I’m coming back in good faith the way the board had asked to bring back recommended reductions.”
The board is expected to vote on the budget on Feb. 14.