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Sports blog: Warrior Nation

By KARA O'CONNOR

Villager Staff Writer


WILTON -- A 5-1 vote brought the Board of Education's budget decision to a close Feb. 4, moving forward a $71.5 million budget for fiscal year 2010-11, which represents a 2.85 percent increase.

The education budget is now in the hands of the Board of Finance, which will have the final say before it's put before the voters in May.

According to Superintendent Gary Richards, the Board of Education has worked very hard to get the budget as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of education in Wilton.

"The board has worked very hard to scrub the budget down and bring it in one direction," he said.

In January, Richards gave his recommended 2.85 percent education budget at a public hearing. One of the reasons the Board of Education decided to keep the budget at 2.85 percent, he said, was due to the majority of the comments given by the public at a Jan. 21 hearing.

"I think that the board listened to what the public said at the hearing," said Richards. "About 30 of 31 people who came up and spoke at the hearing said that they supported the budget or they wished it was higher."

Gil Bray, chairman of the Board of Education, said the panel felt the proposed budget would maintain the quality of education in Wilton's school system.

"This is a painful budget and one that is removing many things already," he said. "I know that there will be a lot of questions and discussion on this, but we believe that this is a budget that the public will support."

The Board of Finance got it's first look at the education budget Tuesday night, and, according to the panel's chairman, Warren Serenbetz, some of the members felt it was too high.

"The board of finance indicated that in order to get a respectable mill rate, it is necessary to reduce the budget," he said. "We did not give specifics or a number that they (the Board of Education) had to reduce. Right now it is too early for that."

If a 2.85 increase is maintained, Serenbetz said, then the town's mill rate would increase to 5 percent, which, he noted, is high.

The next Board of Finance budget work session will be held during its next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

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