NAUGATUCK — Top officials in the public school system say not having an approved budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year is hurting the way schools operate.
Superintendent of Schools Sharon Locke and Assistant Superintendent of Schools Chris Montini revealed class sizes to the Board of Education on Wednesday, noting that some are higher than they would like.
“I would like to state for the record that the grades five and six classes are high enough that if we had a budget, we would be looking at it for places to cut so that we could hire another teacher,” Locke said.
Naugatuck does not have a budget adopted because the first budget proposals for both the town and the school system failed at referendum. Officials then made new budget proposals, but those behind the first budget petition to force the referendum said the cuts were not enough. They have collected signatures to force a second referendum, but as of Wednesday, those signatures are still being verified by Borough Clerk Nancy DiMeo.
The school budget represents $61.1 million of a proposed $113.6 million combined town and school budget.
A second referendum could be held in mid-October, and if that fails, the budget might not get set until January, Locke said. Per borough charter, it can only go to referendum three times before officials can set it for good.
Currently, schools are only hiring for the most essential positions, Locke said. She and Montini pointed to specific areas where the numbers are higher than they would like, including first grade classes at Hop Brook Elementary School, which have 24 to 25 students in each of three classes; the kindergarten classes at Salem Elementary School, which have 24 students in each of two classes; and the second grade classes at Western Elementary School, which have 26 and 27 students in each of two classes. They would like to see 20 or less in kindergarten and first, and low 20s in grades two to five.
On Wednesday, the school board gave Locke authority to hire tutors and reading specialists to help in the lower levels because the state helps to pay for them, but the board said it cannot approve another teacher without a budget.
Montini also noted that Cross Street Intermediate School has an average class size of 28.75, with 30 in some classes, while Hillside Intermediate has an average class size of 25.42. Those are both up from last year — Cross Street is up 4.46 students per class and Hillside is up 1.22 students per class. Cross Street is only down two students year over year but also lost two teachers because of budget cuts.
The school system is also down some paraprofessionals, who have not been replaced due to budget uncertainty, meaning some of them are skipping around from room to room.
Locke and Montini said they plan to develop a guide in conjunction with the school board to determine how many students each grade level should have, and that the board’s policy committee should adopt a policy on class sizes.
