The Board of Education met last week to deal with the aftermath of another ~$850,000 in CUTS to their funding. For those keeping score at home, that now makes over $3.4 million in CUTS to the BOE’s proposed funding since the 2023-2024 school year. First and foremost, kudos to the BOE for all their hard work. It’s not easy trying to build a school system with a half-filled toolbox, and we are grateful that you were able to mitigate much of the damage through your creativity and determination.
Since 2023-2024, more than 30 BOE jobs have been eliminated and many others have gone unfilled due to budget issues. Non-urgent maintenance issues have gone largely ignored and very few departments seem to be operating at full capacity in general. Speaking to teachers and parents, it’s clear that we cannot afford any more reductions to our BOE budget moving forward; our kids are already paying the price.
Our students and teachers deserve much better, and we are committed to making education one of our top priorities as we move into the campaign season. While our schools are being forced to do more with less, young families are noticing in droves. It’s no secret that Wallingford’s population and student enrollments are declining; yet other towns like Cheshire & North Haven aren’t having the same issues. We owe it to our kids to give them the best schools possible, and our grand list will thank us later!
