Danbury panel refers school finance language back, adds audit and student privacy limits

The Charter Revision Commission voted July 27 to send draft Section 6-18 back to its drafting workgroup for additional revisions and to narrow the scope of required disclosures. Commissioners said they wanted language that preserves the city's audit authority while protecting student privacy.

Commissioner Mary Jean Rebeiro and Commissioner Deborah MacCarry agreed to replace 'Shall' with 'May' in portions of the proposed text and to ask staff to define what constitutes 'financial information.' Corporation Counsel Dan Casagrande recommended insertion of limiting language, suggesting terms such as "solely for the purposes of" and to "ensure that no protected data will be disclosed," and Chair Joseph W. Britton proposed adding the phrase "excluding any information protected under relevant student privacy law." The commission recorded a consensus to refer the section back for reworking with those protections in place.

Public commenters, including Council members and Board of Education representatives, urged caution. Ben Chianese, a resident and City Council member, "spoke in favor of having the Town Clerk position be Appointed or Civil Service; asked that Sec. 6-18 be removed completely." Several speakers said BOE members and the Teachers Union had not had sufficient opportunity to comment on the draft language.

The referral does not resolve the underlying question of what specific financial records the city may request; the commission asked legal counsel and staff to return with narrower, audit-focused wording that preserves student privacy. The panel will consider the revised text at a future meeting after the drafting group reports back.