After Tense Debate, Divided Fairfield School Board Passes Budget

FAIRFIELD, CT — After a nearly four-hour discussion punctuated by tense exchanges and long silences, Fairfield’s school board approved the district’s proposed 2021-22 budget.

It took two votes for the divided board to pass the approximately $194 million budget, a total that reflected about $232,000 in cuts made during the Jan. 28 meeting, but that still added up to a nearly $10 million increase compared to the previous school year’s budget.

The body's final budget vote was 5-4, with the proposal approved along party lines, and all Republican board members dissenting. An initial 4-4-1 vote put the board in an unprecedented position after Democrat Jennifer Maxon-Kennelly abstained in an effort to urge Republican members to reconsider their votes.

“To actually hear one after another say they’re not going to support the Board of Education budget, and actually hear them say that, did actually take me by surprise,” she said during the meeting, conducted via videoconference. “If my Republican counterparts have something to offer that would help them to support this budget, that’s what I would like to hear.”

Vice Chair Nick Aysseh, a Republican, countered that the budget didn’t do enough to advance structural change and make reasonable cuts.

“It really comes down to structural change and, in this instance, structural change that includes a reduction in a significant amount,” he said. “I had two motions that failed that were worth almost $800,000 and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Maxon-Kennelly argued Aysseh’s failed proposal to cut six high school English teacher positions by eliminating the district’s in-school, teacher-student writing conferences reflected a “slash-and-burn” approach.

As the final vote was called, she said Aysseh was a coward, although she apologized almost immediately.

“It was incredibly rude and inappropriate,” she said. “I publicly apologize for that comment.”

In a prepared statement after the meeting, Aysseh said he was worried by the “sharp reaction from one member of the majority party.”

“A review of the meeting recording is troubling as you see how an effort was made to strong-arm some members to change their votes,” he said, noting the board has been repeatedly advised to make structural changes that would save money. “Our diversity of viewpoints should be a strength, not a cause for rancor.”

In response, Maxon-Kennelly said in a prepared statement she appreciated her fellow board members’ focus on assessing district needs. She also continued to express concerns.

“I was honestly caught off guard by their apparent willingness to abandon our past bipartisan approach to seek savings through analysis that takes months in favor of last second amending at the Board table,” she said.

Disagreement between Aysseh and Maxon-Kennelly arose earlier in the meeting, when Aysseh proposed the $550,000 English teacher reduction.

“The idea behind this motion is looking at the long term here, where can we start to make these structural changes that will lower our costs in areas that make sense,” he said.

Maxon-Kennelly worried the cut would weaken the personal connections between students and teachers at a time when such relationships are particularly important amid to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Chair Christine Vitale, a Democrat, also cited the pandemic as a factor in her opposition to Aysseh’s proposal.

“I think that these are important conversations to have,” she said. “I’m not sure that we really should be having them when we’re still somewhat in the middle of a crisis.”

Aysseh interjected to argue the budget season was the appropriate time to find efficiencies, and the chair and vice chair argued over whose turn it was to speak.

“Mr. Aysseh, you’re out of order,” Vitale said.

Aysseh disagreed.

“No, you’re out of order,” he said.

Aysseh’s proposed teacher cut failed 5-4, along party lines.

The board did pass many changes prior to the final budget vote, including reducing about $242,000 in various expenses, each of which were well under $100,000 individually. Board members also cut approximately $89,000 for bus disinfecting, roughly $73,000 for a new custodian position, and about $41,000 for a residency role.

A motion to restore approximately $309,000 in funding for elementary art teachers was reduced to a roughly $213,000 restoration, and passed in a move Aysseh referred to as a compromise that “still gets us some meaningful change.”

A proposal from Aysseh to cut $175,000 in school allocations failed.

Of the budget’s nearly $10 million year-over-year increase, $2.6 million is related to funds that carried over from 2019-2020 to pay for expenses in 2020-21.

With the budget approved by the school board, it will next be considered by the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting.