Several residents used the public comment period at the Aug. 12 board meeting to press the Farmington Board of Education to immediately fund expanded reading remediation for older students, saying the district has a persistent reading gap in middle and high school.

Public commenter Mr. Lovelway told the board Farmington can “begin to close this gap this year” by investing $5,660,000 and argued the district’s projected fund balance and cash cushion could cover the cost. He cited district budget pages in a handout provided to the board and urged a meeting within a month to review the budget and identify actionable allocations for reading programs.

Eugene Greenstein, who also addressed the board during public comment, estimated roughly 1,800 sixth‑through‑twelfth‑grade students need remediation and suggested one‑on‑one tutoring at roughly $3,000 per student, yielding a total cost near $5.4 million; Greenstein said the district should consider using one‑time funds, including the rainy‑day reserve, to pay for interventions.

Both speakers framed the proposals as one‑time remediation costs that would support low‑performing and economically disadvantaged students. They said the interventions would be intensive (for example, daily one‑on‑one tutoring) and argued that the long‑term benefits outweigh the short‑term budgetary impact.

Board members did not debate or vote on the proposals during the public‑comment period. District staff and board members present acknowledged receipt of the public comments and indicated budget reviews and finance committee work are ongoing, but no formal budget reallocation was recorded at the Aug. 12 meeting.

Speakers provided calculations and sources in handouts to the board; the numbers and cost estimates presented were proposals from community members and were not verified or endorsed by the board at the time of the meeting.