Submitted by Karen Hirsh, Chair, Greenwich Board of Education
On December 12, 2024 the Board of Education voted, 7-1, in support of the operating budget for 2025-2026. The operating budget is designed to meet the mission of the BOE:
● Educate all students to the highest levels of academic achievement;
● Enable them to reach and expand their potential; and
● Prepare them to become productive, responsible, ethical, creative and compassionate members of society.
The BET and the RTM must vote to approve our budget; therefore we are ever mindful that expenditures must be explained and justified. Our budget process is built around that understanding and our numerous, detailed public meetings allow for transparency around our decision making.
The BET guidelines that were released at the end of October, well after the Board was presented with the Superintendent’s recommended budget, did not even meet the known contractually obligated costs of the Greenwich Public Schools. From the outset, to meet those guidelines would require the Board to make significant and meaningful cuts to our schools, staff and educational programs.
In the months that have passed since those guidelines were developed, the Board has gotten new information, all of which has been shared with the BET, which makes those guidelines even more problematic, including a reduction of funding from the State, a larger incoming kindergarten class than anticipated and an increase of students requiring federally mandated special educational supports. So just as we have more eager young students entering our schools, we are once again faced with the fact that the BET is contemplating cutting necessary funding for our programs and staff.
The Board understands that we do not have an unlimited budget to meet our mission, which is why our budget development process is such a transparent, robust and lengthy bipartisan effort. Each year the Superintendent and her staff build the budget from the ground up, assessing the needs of each school and all of our students. The bipartisan BOE budget committee meets to review and refine the budget and to work with the Superintendent and her staff to stress test the budget and identify any opportunities for efficiencies. Prior to the voting on the budget, the BOE also holds numerous public meetings to review and discuss the budget in detail.
Tomorrow, April 1st, the BET will vote on the GPS operating budget and have yet provided no official information regarding proposed cuts. Rumors are circulating that a cut of $4M is under consideration. It is unclear where that number has come from, or what programs or staff the BET believes are not needed. What the BET is deliberating on, or whether they are deliberating at all, is unknown. What is clear is that any substantial reduction will require the BOE to revisit the budget and cut programs and/or staff.
On March 26th several hundred Greenwich residents came to Central Middle School to advocate for a fully funded budget and over 700 people watched online. Greenwich residents want our schools to be great. Greenwich homeowners know that great schools support students, parents and staff, and know that the value of their home is directly correlated with the quality of our school system. In a year when we are seeing our investments in our schools paying off – both in the significant growth of our students seen through test scores and more, to many of our schools being recognized and highly ranked as “top 10” schools both nationally and others listed as schools of distinction in the state of Connecticut, it is that much more disheartening to think that our budget may be reduced so significantly. A substantial cut to the GPS budget will have a substantial impact on the quality of education for students.
When the BET votes on Tuesday, we hope they will consider what the specific impact of their cuts will be on our students. Our teachers and staff work very hard, but you cannot conjure something out of nothing. Fewer teachers means larger classes and less support for students; programs that are cut mean students miss out on important instruction and significant educational opportunities.
We hope the BET will fully fund the BOE budget, supporting our students and staff, Greenwich families and residents. Together we can offer an education to our students that meets our mission and continues the Greenwich legacy of excellence in education.
Karen Hirsh, Chair, Greenwich Board of Education