State rejects plan by schools

McDonald schools’ deficit percentage is the worst in state history, school officials confirmed.

McDONALD — The state Financial Planning and Supervision Commission for McDonald schools has rejected a plan from the board of education to make only $518,497 in cuts and also rejected the possibility of placing a 6-mill emergency levy on the November ballot to generate $1.6 million over five years.

Instead, the commission has instructed schools Superintendent Michael Wasser and Treasurer Brian Stidham to return to a second meeting of the commission at 1 p.m. Monday with an additional $400,000 in cuts.

The decision was driven by the commission’s analysis of a five-year forecast for the district, which shows a $629,879 deficit projected in 2014 even after the proposed $518,497 in cuts and a 6-mill levy is passed.

A deficit of $2 million was projected for 2010.

Stidham confirmed that the district has a 32 percent deficit, which put it in state fiscal emergency. The baseline deficit for a state fiscal-emergency declaration is 15 percent. McDonald is considered to have the worst deficit percentage in state history, Stidham and Nita Hendryx of the auditors’ Local Government Services office both confirmed.

Commission chairwoman Jacalyn Osborne told the administrators who presented the plan that the commission had looked at a rough draft and reviewed the recovery plan and also looked at information in the five-year forecast in an executive session.

“The plan simply does not contain enough in reduction of expenditures to come to a positive number in the [five-year] forecast,” she said.

She also said: “If you are going to seek additional millage, we want to wait longer.”

Osborne was appointed to the commission by the state superintendent of schools.

Art and band programs would be cut under the initial plan. That plan also called for eliminating both the full-time high school and part-time elementary librarians; reducing custodial staff to five, eliminating 11‚Ñ2 posts; bus transportation daily cut from three runs to one; eliminating speech, a psychologist and a special-education director from the Trumbull Educational Services Center and contracting with Weathersfield schools for a part-time school psychologist; one high school math and business teacher; half-time high school physical-education teacher; high school band director cut from full time to part time; and eliminating early-retirement incentives after the 2009-10 school year.

Paul Marshall of the state Office of Budget and Management said: “The commission cannot approve this. It has to be approved by the state superintendent.” He added the superintendent would not approve the plan with a forecast deficit.

“The fact is we have no choice but to cut more,” Marshall said.

“We know we have to take a look at administrative cuts,” Wasser said. He added that negotiations with both teaching and nonteaching staff will take place this year, and supplemental contracts and benefits would be up for consideration.

The five-year forecast presented to the commission by Stidham still shows a deficit of $629,000 in 2014 even with a levy and cuts proposed Thursday, noted Rocco Tondo, commission member. Tondo is village clerk and the mayor’s appointee to the commission.

Ed Bush, former Trumbull County auditor, said he “suggests making cuts and making progress before you put a levy on the ballot.”

Osborne commented that more work was needed “to get the district closer to solvency.”