Reconfigured Milford School District Is Stifling Parental Involvement, Candidates Agree

Republicans and Democrats campaigning for Milford Board of Education seem to agree on at least one thing – that the elementary school reconfiguration that went into effect three years ago is hurting parental involvement.

“When you have to bus single-family kids to multiple schools, parents aren’t happy,” John DeRosa, a Republican running in the First District, said at a candidates forum last week.

Chris Saley, a Democrat running in the Third District, agreed.

Saley said the reconfiguration was “a poor decision” that has since stifled parental input, which he called “the biggest indicator of where we’re going as a school system.”

How we got here

Faced with a $2.2 million cut to its proposed budget for fiscal year 2010-11, the Board of Education in May 2010 endorsed action to close Simon Lake School and divide the district’s eight remaining K-5 schools into four K-2 schools and four grades 3-5 schools.

Though the board of finance left the school board with a $1.8 million increase in spending over the previous year, it was not enough to keep things status quo, said Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Michael Cummings, who, as acting superintendent at the time, proposed the plan.

“We could not consider a cut of that size without impacting staff,” said Cummings, noting that salaries and benefits made up about 78 percent of the education budget that year. “(And) to cut staff across nine sites would have put class sizes close to 28 to 30 students.”

Savings realized amid ‘real concern’

Every year the district realizes savings as a result of the elementary school reconfiguration, Cummings said.

In addition to the operational and administrative costs saved with the closing of Simon Lake, the new configuration has led to a reduction in the number of teachers at the remaining schools, the administrator said.

“If you compare the 2009-10 adopted budget to the 2010-11 adopted budget, you will see we went from 173 elementary teaching positions to 149,” said Cummings. “We did this and kept class sizes low.”

While Cummings argued the savings are actual and “have maintained each year," he also recognized how adding another transition can be potentially troublesome for a student, calling it “a real concern and one we continually address.”

“It has impacted people’s feelings towards their schools,” he said.

Committee forms, candidate says we can’t wait

Cummings said a committee that was formed in June is currently mulling over options for other potential district configurations.

The Long Range Planning Committee, created in large part to address a declining student enrollment, will eventually make recommendations to the Board of Education “(but) what that looks like is still some months off,” he said.

Saley, the Democrat running in the Third District, said the time to act is now.

“I’m not into these committees where it takes three years to get anything done,” he said at the forum. To boost parental involvement, Saley argued for more before- and after-school programs.

DeRosa, the Republican running in the First District, has advocated for a return to neighborhood schools, which places students in schools closest to their homes.

“Parental involvement in school PTAs has declined as families split their involvement or sometimes make a choice of which school to support,” DeRosa and fellow Republican Board of Education candidates wrote in a letter to the editor published on Milford Patch on Oct. 15.

“We want to stop the shuffle!” the letter continued. “We promised to return to neighborhood schools.”

'Rethinking a position'

Suzanne DiBiase was one of the 10 Republican candidates whose name was appended to the letter to the editor calling for a return to the old structure.

DiBiase, running in the Fifth District, was not at last week’s forum. In fact, only three of the 10 Republican candidates were in attendance; nine of the 10 Democratic candidates showed up. And about 60 residents came out.

In the comments section of the letter to the editor, DiBiase acknowledges that she voted for the reconfiguration. The Board of Education had a Republican majority at the time. The current school board has eight Democrats and only two Republicans.

DiBiase wrote that the new configuration "was the only option" presented to the Board of Education. She said she voted for it after consulting with some of her past teachers who still lived in Milford. 

"I based my vote on the information that was in front of me," she wrote. “Being a good elected official sometimes entails rethinking a position.

“After listening to parents who have lived the new configuration as well as some faculty, I have come to realize that the decision made in 2010 may not have been the correct decision I believe that it is in the best interest of our families we need to return to the K-5 program.”

Click here for the full slate of Milford BOE candidates