Parents Rally At Town Hall After $2M School Budget Cut Proposed

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield parents lined Old Post Road on Sunday, holding signs with phrases such as “schools make Fairfield great,” “fund the BOE, support our kids” and “honk for our schools,” a request which was positively received by several passing cars.

The group had gathered outside the Town Hall complex to urge Fairfield officials to fully fund the school board’s proposed budget, after First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick announced Friday plans to spend $2 million less on education than the board requested.

“It doesn’t just knock us back for a year, it knocks us back for the long haul,” said Kelly McWhinnie, one of the more than 30 community members at Sunday’s rally, organized by Fairfield’s PTA Council. “If anything we need more investment in the schools right now.”

In addition to Fairfield parents, McWhinnie was joined by several members of the Board of Education and Representative Town Meeting, as well as Selectwoman Nancy Lefkowitz and state Rep. Jennifer Leeper.

“I’m here to listen and to learn,” said Lefkowitz, who will hear Kupchick’s formal budget presentation Monday, along with Selectman Tom Flynn.

Amid the extenuating circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, funding social-emotional resources for students is particularly important, Lefkowitz said.

“I support investments in education,” she said.

Kupchick said Friday she intends to increase education spending by $7.5 million, or just over 4 percent. However, that amount is a significant decrease compared to the $9.5 million year-over-year budget hike the school board approved in January.

“I think the Board of Education has provided a budget that will meet the needs of our students, and anything less, we may risk impacts to instruction,” said school board member Carol Guernsey, who attended Sunday’s rally.

A divided Board of Education passed the roughly $194 million requested budget in January. Of the $9.5 million hike the board is seeking, more than $2.5 million is dedicated to filling a financial hole created when the school district used excess funds generated in early 2020 by the onset of the pandemic to pay for maintenance and transportation in 2020-21.

“Just to really get to level funding required a $2.5 million investment,” school board Chair Christine Vitale said in a phone interview Sunday.

If the finalized version of the town budget does require education cuts, the board will try to avoid reductions that would directly affect students, Vitale said, adding cuts could include staffing reductions and delays in maintenance or technology purchases.

Kupchick, whose 2021-22 town budget includes a 1.98 percent tax increase, said Friday that Fairfield residents can't afford the more than 5 percent spending spike the Board of Education proposed.

“We all knew we had cliffs that we had to make up,” Kupchick said in a phone interview Sunday. “It doesn’t mean impacting students.”

The annual budget process is just beginning. After Kupchick presents her spending plan Monday, it must be approved by the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting, which is expected to vote on the budget in May. Any education funding adjustments would be formalized after the budget’s final approval, Vitale said.