Tolland Board Advances 7.9% Budget Scenario After Night of Deep Cuts and Difficult Choices

The Tolland School District Board of Education advanced a 7.9% budget scenario on Feb. 4 after a nearly eight-hour special meeting during which the superintendent walked members through three reduction iterations and the board took votes on dozens of individual line items.

Dr. Walt Willett, the district superintendent, told members the goal of the session was to be prepared to adopt a budget at the board’s Feb. 11 meeting and forward it to the town by the statutory deadline. He said he prepared three alternatives — a 7%, 5% and 4% scenario — and that each percentage point of reduction is roughly worth $450,000. “If you go from a 7 to a 4, you’re looking at $1.2 to $1.3 million,” Willett said as he explained the spreadsheet the board used to move items into a ‘customized’ reductions column.

The largest personnel protections were directed by the board. Willett said the 7% scenario would preserve the district’s staffing structure while adding a social worker and a PPT facilitator; lower-percentage scenarios progressively remove or reassign positions. He cautioned that a 4% target would require cuts to non‑retiree teachers and materials and said, “I would rather have that than lose people” —…