To the Editor:
As I sat in the joint Board of Education/Board of Finance meeting in the Zellner Gallery on Thursday evening (Feb. 8), I was struck by how lucky we are in Wilton not only to have such an amazing school system but to have so many dedicated, passionate and hardworking members of the community volunteering so many hours of their time to deal with running our town. So I want to start this letter by thanking all the members of the two boards for everything they do. It’s a lot and no one should underestimate how much work they do on our behalf.
It seemed to me for most of the meeting that the BOF is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Their members seemed sympathetic to the budgetary needs of the BOE but obviously feel taxpayers will balk at paying more. They are also, quite rightly, making sure that our tax dollars are being efficiently spent and are not being wasted.
What I hadn’t appreciated before I attended yesterday’s meeting was that apparently, only 38% of people in this town have school-aged kids. So, from that, I took it that my job, as a parent and an active community member, is to make sure the other 62% of people fully understand why this spending is so important — for all of us. As Wiltonians we need to stop dividing ourselves into school parents and other residents, and we need to think about adding value to our town.
The buzz is that there are going to be reductions recommended to the BOE budget, but that’s not yet the case. What has actually happened is that the Board of Finance has issued guidance saying that they feel the BOE should be looking at a 4% increase [over FY 2024], and our superintendent has put out a draft budget (as I understand it) which requires more. He has also put out a memo detailing the kind of cuts he would have to make in order to only ask for the 4% increase. This isn’t a list of what will be cut, but a list of the things that they could look to cut to make up the money. And the list is scary — you can read it for yourself but it includes further reductions in clubs and extracurriculars; the loss of a world language teacher, a music teacher, and a physical education teacher; cutting freshman sports; eliminating positions for kindergarten reading paras, a Miller-Driscoll STEM teacher, and a Wilton High School dean; reducing time for people to work on the curriculum over the summer; and more.
Already this academic year we have reduced music instruction at Cider Mill and we have reduced the high school club stipend by 50% — the impact of which four articulate and engaged students spoke to Thursday night. Cutting clubs doesn’t mean cutting fun activities for kids, it means cutting opportunities for them to actively engage in the community and become better citizens.
Wilton — what are we doing? Ask yourself these questions: Why do you live in Wilton? Why did you move to Wilton?
Our family moved to Wilton, like so many others, because it’s a beautiful location, close enough to NYC, and it has an excellent school system. I am so proud of this community and because I feel this pride, I engage in our community through volunteer work. I want to make Wilton a better place for all of us.
To me, our schools are the heart of this town. They are why people move here. They are why your house is worth what it’s worth and why we get to be so proud when our town is touted by various places as a great place to live, and a great place to raise a family. When our high school kids go to amazing colleges, when our teams win statewide and national competitions, and when our high school musical wins the Best Musical Halo award, we all get to pat ourselves on the back a bit. We all did that — we care, we invested, we created this environment and this positive feedback loop that brings more and more engaged, amazing, creative people to live in our town.
Only, perhaps people aren’t aware, but over the past several years “we” have been doing that less and less. Did you know, for example, that the TAA (Theater Arts Association) Board, of which I am president, fundraised $30,000 in order to bridge the gap in funding between the school budget and what was actually needed to put on our program? Did you know that this year our fundraising goal is $44,000? Did you realize that when a music student achieves success at the national level, being selected to sing in a choir of only around 250 of the best high school singers in the US, while other schools send their music director and the student to the festival, that expense falls on parents here — the music director doesn’t get to go? I can’t speak to other areas but you should know this is happening across the board. Maybe this is all perfectly reasonable, but it’s something I think everyone should know.
My personal opinion is that our superintendent, Dr. Kevin Smith, has done an excellent job of guiding us through the pandemic and beyond. It was apparent last night that he has an excellent handle on the numbers and that he and the Board of Education have already trimmed as much fat as they can — making savings by hiring an electrician instead of paying call-out fees, renegotiating contracts with service providers and health insurance providers, etc. The budget that the Board of Education will eventually present will be what these people, who give up so much of their free time really looking into the nitty gritty of these things, deem absolutely necessary for us to continue to provide the high level of education that I, as a taxpayer and citizen of Wilton, expect.
One speaker at Thursday night’s meeting equated the savings that would be made by reducing the proposed budget down to the 4% guidance as around $24 a month for someone with a home assessed at a $750,000 value — around five or six cups of coffee. I love this town, I love this community, I’m proud of all our kids and the incredible citizens we are launching into the world. I think the town of Wilton is well worth the price of an extra six cups of coffee a month and I will be wholeheartedly supporting the budget that our experienced and knowledgeable superintendent and Board of Education put together. I ask that whether or not you have children in our schools, when it comes to budget time you think of the future value of our town and the impact just a $24 a month extra investment will have.
Please invest in this beautiful place we all call home.
Sincerely,
Sarah Beach