Submitted by Lindy Lilien
Dear Republican BET members:
Please reconsider your $4+ million cut to the GPS budget. You introduced cuts at the 11th hour, having had little to no discussion with your Democrat BET colleagues, the Superintendent or BOE.
Your stated rationale was sparse and it has been highlighted that you made mistaken assumptions, ignored contractual obligations and recommended illegal hiring practices. Superintendent Jones published a statement on Friday to correct the record. You have not lived up to your responsibilities to research and make budget adjustments that are thoughtful and advisable for a Town of this stature.
There is no way that your arbitrary cuts in service of political talking points will not weaken our strong public school system. You have punished a Superintendent who excels at her job and already runs a lean Department. GPS already agreed to cut $500 thousand in December. The proposed budget was passed by a bipartisan BOE. Now the BOE and Education Department are forced to hastily look for areas to cut. It is impossible not “to impact the classroom.”
Changing back to earlier high school start times is only one egregious example under serious discussion due to your draconian cuts. To reimpose earlier high school start times may produce big dollar savings on buses, but will only happen at the expense of the health and well-being of 2750 of our students. It is tempting because the impact of such a cut is difficult to measure. Prioritizing student health won the day when this change was implemented in 2017 after exhaustive research and debate. Greenwich was a courageous leader and other districts followed suit. The research continues to support positive benefits to students (improved mood, better attendance and grades and fewer car crashes) with unexpected benefits to educators. https://www.apa.org/topics/
One of your Republican BET colleagues argued that your cuts were made in consideration of people like her mother, who struggles to pay property taxes on a fixed income. I do not refute that good governance requires consideration of all residents. Someone explained to me that had this $4+ million been kept in the budget, it would have resulted in approximately $136 in increased property taxes on the median priced Greenwich home. There are systems in place to help residents who struggle with their property tax bills. Struggling seniors should contact the Assessor’s Office, which can help them file for Senior homeowner tax relief benefits, applications accepted between February 1 and May 15. Veterans may also qualify for property tax relief and should also contact the Assessor’s Office.
Please reverse course before your cuts change the fabric of this Town, devalue our young developing residents and risk our reputation and property values.
Thank you,
Lindy Lilien
RTM, District 5