Submitted by Harry Fisher, Republican chair of the Board of Estimate and Taxation
There has been a lot written about the school start time / bussing matter since a piece published in the GFP late Friday. (Alfano, Arora, Jansen, Cappiali: A Targeted Interim Fix to Preserve High School Start Times May 16, 2025). I write to clarify matters.
That piece called for the funds, about $ 2 million, be restored to allow the GHS start time to remain at 8:30 am. The fact is that the BET cannot, according to the Town Charter, initiate such an appropriation. It must be requested by a town department or the Board of Education (BOE). That was confirmed by the Town Attorney on Monday afternoon, prior to the BET meeting that evening. But it gets a bit more complex.
A request for the current Fiscal Year (FY) ending June 30, 2025, would not be appropriate as the matter does not exist in this year’s budget. Furthermore, a request to appropriate funds for the next FY 2026 cannot be addressed until we actually are in that year’s budget, i.e., after July 1st. Then the Representative Town Meeting (RTM)
does not meet until September, so it either waits until then, or the RTM calls a special meeting.
It is unfortunate that this matter was triggered by a rushed piece of opinion in the GFP. That has caused a lot of consternation and stress in the town. From my standpoint, supported by some others on the BET and the BOE, there are other areas in the Schools budget that could be reduced without affecting student achievement. However, the Democrat members of the BOE blocked Republican efforts to even discuss those.
I hope this helps lower the temperature in Greenwich, and helps people understand that The BET led by Republicans is fully supportive of schools in Greenwich. The budget still grows by over 3 % when benefits are included and never before have there been three major projects to renovate two schools and build one new one.
Harry Fisher
Republican Chair, BET