Residents urge Shelton Board of Aldermen to fully fund Board of Education at budget hearing

At a public hearing on the Shelton City budget, residents urged the Shelton Board of Aldermen to fully fund the Board of Education’s proposed $83,700,000 budget and reject what commenters described as a $3,000,000 reduction proposed by Mayor Mike Moretti.

The request for full funding was repeated by several speakers during the hearing. A resident who identified themself as a seven-term member of the Shelton Board of Education said the mayor’s recommendation — though $1,000,000 higher than the board received last year — would still leave the district “almost $3,000,000 short of our request,” and warned that shortfalls “could be devastating to the school system and could possibly, but not necessarily, include such things as multiple layoffs, increased class sizes, and reduced resources.”

Parents and school employees at the hearing told aldermen that last year’s supplemental funding and reserve accounts helped avert deeper cuts and urged the board to repeat that action. Parent and maintenance worker Brett Tagg said Shelton’s schools are supported by a wide range of staff and volunteers and asked aldermen to “fund our schools properly.”

Another parent, Melissa Adarra of Blue Hill Elementary, urged the aldermen “to fully fund the Board of Education’s proposed $83,700,000 budget and reject the $3,000,000 cut proposed by Mike Mayor Moretti,” saying the district’s request covered what she called “essential needs, not wants,” including positions she said are needed to retain services for English learners, math support and intervention.

A resident, Dave Spinnetti, recounted the prior year’s budget process and how reserve accounts were used, saying a mix of the approved budget and reserves produced an “effective board of ed budget of last year of $83,100,000” after a $79,800,000 appropriation and about $3.3 million of reserve spending. Commenters repeatedly pressed aldermen to consider ongoing costs such as a reportedly rising transportation line that one speaker said increased by about $200,000 and to account for special education and contractual pay increases.

Speakers named specific staffing needs and potential cuts cited during public comment: an ask for roughly 4.5 full-time equivalent positions, retention of two English-as-a-Second-Language teachers, two math specialists and two interventionists, and continued funding for special-education and insurance reserve accounts. Those numbers and descriptions were presented by members of the public and not announced as formal budget figures by city staff at the hearing.

No formal budget decision was made at the public hearing. The only formal action recorded in the transcript was a procedural motion to adjourn, which was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The public hearing record included a note that notice of the hearing was published in the Connecticut Post. Aldermen were present and called to order at the start of the hearing; speakers were taken in the order they signed up with the clerk.