Board tables restructuring move for seventh- and eighth-graders

WINSTED — The Winchester Board of Education tabled a proposal Tuesday night to move the town’s seventh- and eighth-graders to the town’s semi-private high school, The Gilbert School, after more than 50 people showed up at Town Hall to witness the discussion and present their concerns. Several teachers, parents and town officials were on hand to express their collective worries about another school-system restructuring.

“Many people don’t know what you’re planning or why you’re planning it,� said former Board of Education member Ray Pavlak, who said he is in favor of a different plan, to move all of the town’s high-school students out of The Gilbert School and into the Pearson Middle School building. “Let’s do something that will save us an awful lot of money and will be under our control,� he said.

Board of Education Chairman Kathleen O’Brien made a motion to summarily reject that plan, but a board majority defeated the motion by a vote of 7-2, noting that they wanted to keep all options open.

O’Brien said her concern was that there are too many options floating around and she wants the board to make a decision. “The more we put to bed, the less we have to focus on,� she said.

Winchester Education Association President Sandra DeFeo noted that members of the school board had met with the teachers’ union last week and that numerous concerns regarding staffing and potential cost savings were raised.

“I would ask again that you think about what we talked about, what our concerns were, what are questions were and make sure before any vote is made that you find true answers to questions about costs and concerns and facilities,� she said.

In their agreement to table the proposal to move the seventh and eighth grades to Gilbert, school board members noted there are still financial questions that need to be answered, not the least of which is a current-year budget shortfall of approximately $173,000, according to Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno, whose financial report included data indicating the school system is on course to overspend its budget again this year after reportedly going nearly $400,000 over budget for 2009-10.

The exact amount of the overspend — or underspend, depending on who you talk to — is still a point of contention between the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen, which last month demanded information from the school system via a Freedom of Information Act request for records and reports pertaining to the 2009-10 budget.

The demand for information, along with repeated claims by the Board of Selectmen that the school board and superintendent have been incompetent and negligent in their duties, has been met with resistance from O’Brien, which she has called frustrating and offensive. O’Brien refused to meet with selectmen following their FOIA request, saying town officials were overstepping their authority.

One bit of positive financial information came in a review of Winsted’s school lunch program, which has been making a profit for the program’s director, Art Lehne. The profitability of the program has allowed Lehne to start the program each year without startup money from the school board, and he has been able to purchase new kitchen equipment without going to the board for taxpayer money.

Salerno said the lunch program’s profit was approximately $28,000 last year and that Lehne showed a $6,000 profit last month alone. He added that the school system has not had to raise school lunch prices for the past two years and that he may approach Lehne regarding a possible decrease in prices, or increase in portion sizes —  two ideas board members were happy to entertain.