BOE Approves $2 Million Cuts to FY 26 Schools Budget, Including Job Reductions

By: greenwichfreepress | May 9, 2025

Only six of eight members of the Greenwich Board of Education attended Thursday’s special meeting where the agenda featured one action item: Board of Estimate and Taxation reduction from the FY26 BOE Operating Budget.

The BET, with Republican chair Harry Fisher using his tie breaking vote, passed a budget with reductions to the schools operating budget. Mr. Fisher said the reductions were based on an analysis by BET member Karen Fassuliotis.

Missing from the BOE meeting were two Republicans: Cody Kittle and Wendy Vizzo Walsh.

Six BOE members discussed and voted on several reductions to work toward accommodating a $4,587,962 from the public school operating budget for FY26.

In the end they got about half way there.

Several of the items were new proposals, not having been on the table at the May 1 meeting when individual cuts were discussed.

BOE chair Karen Hirsh said she had received hundreds of emails, with most concerning start times and a possible restructure of the House model at GHS.

She thanked the BOE members for attending and referred to “stress, pressure and lack of sleep” over the budget situation.

She said it was a challenge to reconcile the cuts given Distinguished Teachers were recognized earlier in the day and that it is teacher appreciation week.

“We Love Our Teachers and Staff” signs at North Street School. May 8, 2025 Photo: Leslie Yager

Hirsh added that local private schools were taking notice of the public schools budget situation and sending out recruitment emails.

Pay to Pay Sports at GHS

One vote roundly rejected a proposed “pay to play” scenario for sports at Greenwich High School, which would have reduced the budget by 20% for a savings of $455,600.

Dr. Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony said the spirit of the BET reductions was to look for “efficiencies” and that “pay to play” was not an efficiency.

“That would pass the cost of athletics onto parents and families in the community, some of which are of different needs,” Mercanti-Anthony said.

“It limits the ability for students of need to be able to access sports and a lot of students need those to get college scholarships,” Hirsh said.

Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones said that by charging a fee, the revenue would go to the Town of Greenwich, and someone would have to be tasked with collecting the fees.

Also, there were concerns the fee would limit participation and humiliate students who already have to ask for scholarships for field trips and apply for free or reduced price lunch.

Further, Jones said since booster clubs were already raising significant amounts of money for sports teams, meaning there already was an element of pay to play.

Jen Behette said a fee would penalize athletes, and that no other activities were targeted for participation fees.

Ms Hirsh contrasted the proposed pay to play fee at GHS with a Planning & Zoning application for a 74,000 sq ft indoor practice facility at Brunswick School, a private boys school.

“They already take students from the Greenwich Public Schools to play for them as it is,” Hirsh said.

On a motion to approve pay to play, all six members voted no.

Transportation/Start Times

The board did not discuss cuts to Transportation that would mean changes in school start times, given the weight of that decision and fact that 2 of 8 members were missing.

After a discussion on restructuring the House-based model at GHS, they declined to vote on that cut, which would reduce 5 full time employees.

There is another BOE meeting next Thursday.

Nevertheless, many reductions were approved.

Non Personnel Reductions, #13-17. Savings: $494,457.

13. Schoology, a software staff use, for a savings of $32,000.

14. $15.00 PPA (per pupil allocation), which gives school principals some leeway. Vote was 5-1-0 with Ms Kostin voting against the cut.

Dr. Jones said 3 years earlier the PPA was cut way back and had started to be restored in the past two years. She said she wouldn’t want to look to PTAs to offset operating budget as they already offer significant support. The PPA reduction would be at all schools except for the Title I schools. And while GHS is not a title I school, and the PPA is $10.00 per student, about 1/3 of students at GHS are from low income / income restrained families.

15. Curriculum and instruction materials Savings: $100,000.

16. Stipends for learning facilitators in middle school and high school , which are leadership roles within departments. Savings: $162,464

17. District level Professional Development consultants. This is instruction from consultants who teach the teachers how to new curriculum or, for example, new software. Savings: $100,000.

2026 New Investments

1. The Ham Ave Extended Day (Savings: $200,000) was not removed from the budget. The vote to cut was (1-3-2) Yes: Koven. No: Stowe, Mercanti-Anthony, Behette. Abstain: Hirsh and Kostin.

Dr. Jones noted the program was in the works and had yet to be implemented. In the meantime, she said Greenwich Alliance was helping with power tutoring.

Dr. Mercanti-Anthony said he was adamantly opposed to cutting the extended day program.

“It is a program designed to help the students at what is the lowest performing elementary school and are lowest performing primarily for socio-economic reasons. And I think this would be a horrific statement on what we value if we were to cut this program over other things.”

“To make this cut to that community is not the priority we should be doing. We did not get as many emails on that. The reason why is people in that community are working,” Mercanti-Anthony said. “Those are students who are below grade level need that need more time in the classroom, need extra time so they can get to grade level and move forward.”

Ms Koven said there were multiple Title 1 schools in Greenwich. “Every single one of these cuts, we can say this is going to hurt kids, and this is going to hurt low income kids.”

2. Positive Pathways Program (Savings: $343,034). Vote to cut Failed. Positive Pathways would aim to support students with behavioral challenges.

Programming

3. PE in elementary schools. A vote to cut passed 5-1 with Ms Kostin voting no, to reduce elementary school physical education by 2 FTEs for a savings of $265,000. It was passed on the condition that elementary school PE remains at 120 minutes. Dr. Jones said it might mean, for example, having 27 students in a class instead of 24.

4. Grade 3 World Language. A vote to cut world language to save $156,000 and reduce 2 FTEs failed. The vote was 1-5 with Dr. Mercanti-Anthony voting in favor of the cut. Dr. Jones said all surrounding school districts offer K-5 world languages. She noted that world languages are offered at magnet school Julian Curtiss and ISD.

5. Eliminating cross-teaming at Central Middle School for a reduction of 2 FTEs and $156,000 savings, passed. Several board members noted the teaming model was used at the other middle schools, but Dr. Jones said teachers believee they could make it work. The vote was 4 yes (Stowe, Koven, Mercanti-Anthony, Behette); 1 no (Kostin); 1 abstain (Hirsh).

6. K12 Media Assistants: Reduction of 8.7 FTEs (from 15.7 to 7) passed. Saving $386,826. This suggested reduction originated from the unions, GEA and GOSA.

Yes: Stowe, Koven, Mercanti-Anthony, No: Hirsh and Koven. Abstain: Behette.

7. GHS House Restructuring to eliminate one house and save $728,000 by reducing 5 FTEs: one house administrator, dean of students, assistant dean, counselor and an administrative assistant, and possibly replacing the Houses with a grade level structure to organize students by grade 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Jones said this possible change has had the most questions.

“I’m not as afraid of it – probably because I’ve see so many different structures and lived in different places,” she said.

Karen Hirsh was reluctant on this change and staff reduction, saying it was unfair for GHS to bear the brunt of the reductions, especially if start time becomes earlier at that school.

“I’m adamantly opposed to a House restructure like that,” Hirsh said.

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Kathleen Stowe said the grade level structuring might work, and would extend the middle school model of organizing students by their grade.

Ms Hirsh said she didn’t think due diligence had been done yet to merit a vote on such a major change, and the fact that 2 out of 8 board members were not present.

8. Reorganizing K8 evaluation team for special education to reduce 3 FTEs and save $200,000 passed.

9. Restructure Adult Education. The person who runs the program is a .5 FTE and a member of the union for administrators. Savings $72,000. Passed. The vote was 6-0.

10. Eliminate Print Shop (1 FTE for $84,167 savings). The print shop which is located in the Havemeyer building was badly damaged during a flood. Instead of rebuilding the print shop, town and schools would pay for printing services elsewhere. Passed. Vote was 6-0

11. Eliminate 6 full time Administrative Assistants for $420,000 savings, passed. Ms Stowe said it was a shame that Ms Vizzo Walsh was not present since she had suggested cutting these positions. Chief human resources officer Dr. Jonathan Budd said there were a variety of titles for these positions, most of whom are full time, for a total of 59.1 FTE.

The cut was approved 4-2. Laura Kostin and Karen Hirsh voted no.

“We’re running so lean everywhere because we do this every single year,” Jones said. “We’ll make it work. Do I think it’s better than $420,000 in teachers? That’s what we’re talking about.”

12. Eliminate the Assistant Principal at Parkway School (1 FTE $163,734). While this cut failed to pass, it was proposed based on the school being smaller than other elementary schools, and having a different demographic. The school has one of the lowest special education populations. Dr. Jones said back when the school had pre school, the special education population was as high as 50% of the enrollment. She explained that the preschool students had often opted to remain in the building after pre-school. Today she said enrollment is increasing at the school.

Ms Koven said the special education population might increase again.

“This is something you have to watch,” Jones said. “How do you make sure the building has coverage and the structures are in place –even for a district meeting, who is in charge when you’re not there.”

“Who would be in charge?” Mercanti-Anthony asked.

“We would mobilize a coordinator – another administrator – is what usually happens,” Jones said.

The vote was 5-1 with only Mercanti-Anthony voting to approve.

Transportation: school start time

The board did not take up the biggest ticket item – either changing school start times, most notably restoring GHS’s former 7:30am start time for a savings of $2.3 million and reduction of 23 buses, or starting at 7:45am for a $1.9 million savings.

Ms Stowe said it was too big a decision to proceed with given Mr. Kittle and Ms Vizzo Walsh were absent.

Note: The Board of Education will meet on Thursday, May 15, 7:00pm at Central Middle School for their regularly scheduled business meeting.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect Positive Pathways was not cut. Also, on the Restructure Adult Education, the person who runs the program is a .5 FTE, not .8.