Winsted schools rocked by layoffs

WINSTED — Teachers and students were in tears last week after it was announced that teachers and paraprofessionals would have to be laid off this year to make up for repeated cuts to the proposed 2008-09 school budget.

Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno met with staff members last week to discuss a proposed list of cuts, including several teaching positions and paraprofessionals, along with extracurricular programs, instructional supplies, textbooks, maintenance projects, field trips and a one-day staff furlough.

Ultimately, the Winchester Board of Education decided to accept most of Salerno’s cuts at a special meeting Monday night. The decision amounts to an early end to the school year for four staff members — Batcheller School kindergarten teacher Judy Santoro and fifth-grade teacher Marci Boutin, Hinsdale School first-grade teacher Nicole Fair and social worker Patricia Ursaki. The teachers will officially be laid off today (Friday, Jan. 23), the end of the second marking period and halfway point of the 2008-09 school year.

Salerno said several elementary school paraprofessionals, both in regular and special education roles, will lose their jobs. When all of his proposed cuts were added up, the total savings amounted to $472,000, which would still leave the school system $23,000 in the red for the current year.

At Monday night’s special meeting, the Board of Education tweaked Salerno’s proposal, reducing the number of teacher layoffs from five to four. Other than that, the proposal remained unchanged. The superintendent said he believes the total savings will end up in the range of $460,000 to $470,000, which is shy of the $495,000 needed to balance the budget.

“I have never had to do this in the middle of a school year,� Salerno said. “This is very, very unusual, but the cut is so deep that I do not see a way of avoiding where we are. And based on everything I am hearing and seeing about the coming year, it’s going to get worse.�

Salerno spoke to teachers and staff members on Jan. 15 to let them know he was looking at staffing and program cuts. Many teachers were shocked to hear there would be layoffs. When the news reached students in town, there was a mix of sadness and anger.

Salerno noted that staffing cuts were just the tip of the iceberg. Spring sports programs have been eliminated at Pearson Middle School, along with most co-curricular activities for the year. Workshops and equipment repairs were eliminated, along with equipment and general supplies. Students being transported out of town to attend school at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts saw their transportation budget eliminated.

“They’re going to have to find another mode of transportation or they’ll have to drop out of the program,� Salerno said.

The superintendent added that two school bus routes will be consolidated and that students may have to walk to collection points to catch their buses. In the meantime, oil and electricity costs will be greater than they were last year, according to the most recent estimates.

Salerno said the Board of Education’s decision to accept the bulk of his proposed cuts Monday night will leave the school system with a budget that can end up in the black, but the money saved will come at the expense of Winsted’s student population.

“I don’t have any doubt there are people out there who are very concerned,� Salerno said. “But everyone I have met with has been absolutely very professional. Unless the budget is defeated and we get another cut, it is my hope that, with a few other transfers, the decision making on the budget is done for the balance of the school year.�

Latest News

Cornwall receives grant for new sidewalks

CORNWALL — Connecticut Department of Transportation has announced its selections for the Transportation Rural Improvement Program (TRIP) grants.

Applications were submitted to the state in 2023 for infrastructure projects in rural regions of the state. By the deadline to apply, more than $20 million worth of grant requests were received but only $10 million was available in funding.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mountaineers fall to Litchfield 72-44

Sam Marcus defended the perimeter when HVRHS played Litchfield Tuesday, Feb. 6.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) Mountaineers basketball lost to the Litchfield High School Cowboys in a 72-44 decision Tuesday, Feb. 6.

The Mountaineers fell into a deep hole early on and were unable to climb out. Despite the deficit, HVRHS battled to the final buzzer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Children brought their parents to The Hotchkiss Library on Saturday

A popular feature at The Hotchkiss Library’s observance of “Take Your Child to the Library Day” on Saturday, Feb. 3, was the children’s story hour. Eloise Kivitz, 10, seated at right is preparing to present the first book reading of the morning. Seated at left is Renee DeSimone, head of circulation and children’s services at the library.

Leila Hawken

SHARON — It was hard to tell whether the grown-up took the child to the library or if it was the other way round.

Enthusiasm was in high gear as the staff at the Hotchkiss Library welcomed all for “Take Your Child to the Library Day,” observed Saturday, Feb. 3.

Keep ReadingShow less
Housatonic students prep new musical

HVRHS students practiced choreography for the upcoming Housatonic Musical Theater Society presentation of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Patrick L. Sullivan

FALLS VILLAGE — Rehearsals for the Housatonic Musical Theater Society’s production of “Beauty and the Beast” were underway Tuesday, Jan. 30.

Cast members, reading directly from their scripts, worked on their lines and movements under the watchful eyes of director Christiane Olson and musical director Tom Krupa.

Keep ReadingShow less