Deep River BOE Budget May Need To Cut Bottom Line

DEEP RIVER, CT — The Deep River Board of Education budget was approved by the Board on March 18, however, following a Board of Finance budget workshop meeting held on April 20th, which resulted in the BOF calling for a cut of approximately $90,000 from the BOE budget, numbers are being crunched and tempers are flaring.

“It is mind-boggling to me that this reduction is being proposed,” said Deep River Board of Education member Marc Lewis.

Everyone will get a chance to voice their individual opinions on the matter, at the upcoming Public Hearing, which is scheduled on Wednesday, April 28th, however, the BOF will meet the night before giving the BOE little, to virtually no time, to respond and make changes to their budget if the outcome of the last BOF meeting calls for it.

“We’ve never had a timeline this close before,” said Miriam Morrisey, BOE chair at the April 23, BOE meeting, during which Superintendent of Schools, Brian White, presented the Board with a one page “hypothetically” cut budget breakdown, accommodating the $90,000 cut the BOF is calling for.

“Although this budget from the BOF has not been voted on as of yet, we have been made aware, that the likelihood of it passing is pretty high,” explained White.

The hypothetical budget presented to the BOE, by White, included cuts in areas such as enrichment and teacher course reimbursement.

The BOE budget already has very little spending, White noted. It is very close to a flat budget, he said.

Lewis is concerned that if that $90,000 is taken from the BOE, it won’t be added back in, in future budgets, for a very long time.

“This cut can not be acceptable in anyone’s imagination,” said Lewis. “We can’t just sit here and take a $90,000 hit. Education is the foundation of our society and we need to have good schools and we need to educate our students. It is our fiduciary duty to do that.”

Other Board members expressed their concern as well and questioned what they could do to remedy the situation.

The response was to attend the Public Hearing on the 23rd and voice their concerns so the BOF proposed budget, with the $90,000 cut to the BOE budget, does not move forward to a town vote.

“It’s important that people voice their opinions at the public hearing,” said Morrissey.

The next Board of Finance meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 27th, at 7:30 p.m. The Board of Finance Public Hearing will be held on Wednesday, April 28th at 7:30 p.m. and the Annual Budget Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 17th. For more information go to https://www.deepriverct.us/.

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