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Waterford Board of Finance trims Board of Education request, forwards $62,540,629 revised budget
Summary
At a March 23 budget hearing the Board of Finance approved two reductions to the Board of Education's proposed FY27 budget and voted to advance a revised request of $62,540,629. Motions to cut $129,000 and an additional $330,000 passed; vote tallies were recorded.
The Waterford Board of Finance voted March 23 to reduce the Board of Education's proposed FY27 budget and to forward a revised BOE request of $62,540,629.
The meeting opened at 7:00 p.m. with Chairman Glenn Patterson noting attendees and establishing a quorum. A procedural motion by Board member Bill Sheehan, seconded by Joseph Filippetti, to consider the Board of Education budget passed 7-0-0 after the board found the standing motion to consider budgets without departmental motions not applicable to the BOE.
The board then approved a motion by Sheehan, seconded by Filippetti, to reduce the Board of Education budget by $129,000; that motion passed 7-0-0. A subsequent motion by Michael Rocchetti, seconded by Robert Tuneski, to reduce the BOE budget by an additional $330,000 (from the subtotal that reflected the $129,000 reduction) passed 4-3-0; recorded NO votes were Bill Sheehan, Jerry Fischer and Ann Peabody.
After those adjustments, a motion by Sheehan, seconded by Tuneski, to move forward the FY26/27 revised Board of Education budget request in the amount of $62,540,629 passed 7-0-0. The Board of Finance adjourned the meeting at 9:35 p.m.
Public comment filed for the record included a submitted letter from Helen Kwasniewski of Quaker Hill arguing, "With enrollment down WHY is this budget request over 5% as well as not downsizing staff like teachers and administrators," and a statement read at the meeting by Board of Education member Laurie Wolfley questioning whether industry-style, fixed measurable goals are appropriate for educators given students' varied needs.
What happened next: the minutes record the actions and the revised BOE request to be the formal amount advanced by the Board of Finance. The transcript and minutes do not specify further procedural steps or dates for subsequent town-level action.
