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NPS highlights what’s being retained at schools as budget cuts announcement nears
NORWALK, Conn. — School district leaders prepped the public for $11.8 million in cuts to their planned operating budget for the coming school year by explaining the challenges and detailing what won’t be removed from the schools. Norwalk Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Lunda Asmani on Wednesday said the schools budget wasn’t quite finalized because…
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Rilling leads BET to fund middle school counselors for a year
NORWALK, Conn. — Middle school counselors provided during the pandemic by the Mid-Fairfield Community Care Center will continue for another year despite school district budget pressures, under a plan approved Monday by the Board of Estimate and Taxation. “We started talking about it and felt that if we could take some amount of contingency (account…
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No, NPS hasn’t fired 35 teachers – as of now
Union leader stands by warning of staff layoffs NORWALK, Conn. — A rumor has some Norwalkers believing that 35 Norwalk Public Schools teachers were axed in one day, under the public’s radar screen. “That information is inaccurate,” NPS Media Relations Specialist Emily Morgan said. On May 16, Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Mary Yordon spoke to…
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School union leaders urge Norwalk BoE to question Estrella’s coming budget cuts
“The district appears to have decided that teachers with less seniority are going to be the ones to be placed on the hitlist no matter what services they are providing to our student population,” said Norwalk High School Principal Lynne Moore, who is also Norwalk Association of School Administrators (NASA) President.
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Norwalk CFO: AAA rating not endangered
NORWALK, Conn. — One of the country’s leading rating agencies has changed its methodology, alleviating Norwalk fears about extensive capital borrowing endangering its Triple A bond rating, according to Norwalk Chief Financial Officer Henry Dachowitz.
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Norwalk tax board sets budget: 2% mill rate hike
Norwalk’s mill rates aren’t escalating as was predicted just over a month ago – the increase is an average 2% instead of the average 3% that was discussed.
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Norwalk BoE looks to $4.1 million for FY24 budget
NORWALK, Conn. — The Norwalk Board of Education’s budget delta has decreased – about $4.1 million can be directed to the budget, lowering the amount of reductions needed to align with the spending approved by the City, Norwalk Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Lunda Asmani explained recently. Additionally, NPS might receive up to $2.5 million…
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Norwalk teachers union president slams NPS leadership, promises to fight for union members’ pocketbooks
NORWALK, Conn. — The plan to switch employees to a different health insurance plan was expected to save Norwalk Public Schools $7 million, Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Mary Yordon said Thursday. “NPS needed careful leadership and timely sensitive actions in order to make this change work, and that was lacking,” she wrote in a…
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Norwalk BET approves budget, a 4% increase to NPS
NORWALK, Conn. — The City has set its operating budget for the coming year. Although Mayor Harry Rilling had spoken about alternative funding for Norwalk Public Schools, he didn’t mention the idea as the Board of Estimate and Taxation approved its budget Tuesday. The BET also set a capital budget cap, in line with Rilling’s…
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NPS forced to stick with higher cost health insurance option for employees
NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk Public Schools will not be reducing its health insurance costs, as it had hoped. “When the teachers union collectively bargained last year, one of the things that they had in the contract was for the Board of Ed to go out for an RFP to see if there’s something better and…
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Norwalk BET looks to set operating budget, capital budget caps
NORWALK, Conn. — Two spending decisions are on the agenda when the Board of Estimate and Taxation meets Tuesday evening. One is the operating budget, which the Board voted to postpone after last week’s lackluster public hearing, in hopes that Mayor Harry Rilling would meet success when he met with Norwalk Public Schools administration to…
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Norwalk BET looks to keep tax levy below Council’s cap
Rilling promises another approach NORWALK, Conn. — After an intense two weeks of scrubbing City-side budgets, Board of Estimate and Taxation members found that the resultant $393,000 in reductions was offset by $188,000 in increased heating and electricity costs. Hearing that news Monday, BET members continued squeezing City-side departments, looking for savings here and savings…
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Norwalk Council sets budget cap
NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk Common Council members narrowly agreed on a budget cap Tuesday evening, after three failed votes. Approved 8-6-1 was a $403,559,982 operating budget cap, $1 million more than recommended by Mayor Harry Rilling. This calculates an 4.6% budget increase for the Board of Education, though it’s up to the Board of Estimate…
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Impact of employee benefits on FY2023-24 BoE Budget
In the Board’s continuing effort to be as transparent as possible through this budget process, we are sharing some of the finer points involving employee benefits and how they both impact, and are impacted by our FY2023-24 budget situation. First, it is important to note that the district’s overall budget is not where it was…
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Norwalk political notes: Finance Department issues
NORWALK, Conn. — Some Norwalk political notes for you, all related to the Finance Department: A hopefully-final Grand List total The Mayor grants a Grand List deadline extension, not the State “Reasonable” that Norwalk’s Tax Assessor isn’t certified Is the Tax Assessor working remotely?
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Tonight, we will set the Budget Spending Cap; We must be mindful of all Residents’ Needs
I joined the Common Council in February of 2019. Since then, each budget season has presented its own challenges, and this year is no exception. While the Board of Estimate and Taxation, the City’s budget-setting body, is the ultimate decision maker on the City’s operating budget, the Common Council is responsible for setting the operating budget cap, which…
