A long-awaited full-day kindergarten initiative has finally found room at the table, after school officials unanimously approved adjustments to the 2013-14 budget Tuesday night at the Newtown Municipal Center. Superintendent John Reed told the board full-day kindergarten was a top priority, despite three referendums trimming some desired items from the budget.
"I don't really know that Newtown can afford to be the only town in the area that doesn't have an expanded kindergarten," he said. "This does not come easily to me, because I feel strongly there are consequences when a budget is defeated."
Reed's recommended adjustments came to $1.8 million, the required reduction after the referendums. Many cuts came from areas identified as possible reductions by the board of finance, including building and site projects and fuel costs, totaling $750,000.
"This particular set of reductions allows us to do full-day kindergarten, and that's why this is worth it to me," said board member Keith Alexander.
The superintendent's salary also took a cut of nearly $49,000 in Reed's recommendations, a move resident Michelle Ku commended him for taking.
"That's huge," said Ku in a public comment to the board. "That means a lot to the community."
Reed read a litany of desired new positions, including a High School assistant principal and guidance counselors, he said would have to be scrapped due to budget constraints. Before the vote, the board authorized Reed to fill three full-time positions priced at about $180,000 -- a physical education teacher at Reed, a Spanish teacher at Newtown Middle School and a math teacher at Newtown High school -- if he decided to keep them. If he did, the board said, he would report to them other areas where he would cut from the budget.
The board has sought full-day kindergarten for years, and included the initiative in its list of top goals last year. Several kindergarten aide positions were cut from the proposed budget, which Reed called "realism."
"If I had put this budget together with the information from talking to other schools, we would have asked for less aide time," he said.
Reed said he would stay optimistic despite the cuts."We didn't get everything we asked for, but the budget was up almost four percent," he said. "We're just going to roll up our sleeves, and I'm just going to be very positive and upbeat ... Newtown has always tried to climb the mountain. We've got a few different mountains to climb. I'm very confident of the people here. I'm very optimistic about what I think this coming school year holds for us."
More on what this means for the upcoming school year on the way. Check back with Patch for updates and follow-ups.
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