Budget Problems Slow Manchester Schools' Progress

For more than eight years, Manchester has languished without updating its English and Math curricula for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade.

It’s one reason Manchester has not done well on federally-approved state testing.

Part of the problem -- the district has had no curriculum director to oversee the effort.

Kathy Staub is a parent who also serves on one of the district’s teams to help improve the schools.

“Most other school districts have at least one person who is in charge of looking at curriculum…what is being taught in the classroom, what kinds of support materials are available for that, and then monitoring whether the kids are actually learning what the curriculum is. Manchester did try to hire one about 20 years ago, but it just didn’t take.”

Despite that, the district has made progress since being deemed a “district in need of improvement” under No Child Left Behind.

A committee of teachers, principals, administrators, and community leaders have now revised and updated English and Math curricula –with Science and Social Studies in the works.

District in Need teams have also come up with plans to measure student progress, help teachers develop their skills and improve communication among home, school and the community.

Assistant Superintendent of Manchester Schools, Dr. Frank Bass, says he’s pleased with what’s been done this past year, and has high hopes for year-two.

“Many of the projects and programs and activities that we have underway will get to a point where we can involve the entire school system. So we’re very hopeful that a lot of these projects and programs that we have uncovered and tried to bring forward to our schools and community will have a direct impact on the quality of instruction in the classroom, and obviously, in the future, get us out of this designation as district in need of improvement.”

Yet some educators, parents and administrators feel the process is being hampered by a lack of adequate funding – both on all levels.

For instance…even though new curricula in Math and Language Arts have been approved, school board members say there’s not enough money in the budget to purchase the accompanying text books until next year.

And School Board Member Carol Scott – herself a teacher in the Milford School District – says it’s high time to get someone in charge of curricula.

“To have a curriculum director…and actually to have a coordinator at each level. I teach in a district that does have that. This is one person meeting with the other coordinators, making sure that what we’re doing is building on what they’ve done. If we’re seeing a weakness, going back, and that person works with that one level…and it would be fantastic to have it, particularly in a district this size.”

There’s even been disagreement over funding the position of District Improvement Plan Coordinator.

Amanda Lecaroz, who was hired for that position last year, is in charge of coordinating Manchester’s efforts to improve school testing.

But School Board Member Doug Kruse questions renewing Lecaroz’ position, which pays around 41-thousand-dollars per year for 83 days of work.

“We might look at that in a different way, and find a more efficient way to use funds to achieve the same ends. We could perhaps use a retired teacher…or a current teacher could take a sabbatical. For the 43 or so thousand dollars that we’re talking about, we could perhaps get someone to do this work for 180 days rather than just 80 days.”

Another area of dispute centers on administrative costs versus direct-classroom-instruction costs.

This year’s budget is 145 and a half million dollars.

School Board Chairman, Mayor Frank Guinta, would like to see more streamlining on the administrative front:

“According to the administration, we spend 60% of our education appropriation on direct classroom instruction, 40% on the administrative cost of education. I think that’s unacceptable…that 60% allocation has to be far greater in order to meet the growing needs of kids and students, and in order to make sure that we get out of the DINI status.”

Other school board members say administrative costs aren’t the problem, noting that Manchester spends less on administration than 70 other school districts in the state.

Board Member Carol Scott says the entire school budget –– is just not enough.

“Even the $148, when we worked on the budget. Dr. Ludwell had said he was trying to honor what the mayor requested…and to cut back as much as he could. So we knew it was a very tight budget we were sending downtown. So the concern was the money the whole way through.”

Scott says under the budget, some valuable initiatives– including an after-school program that helps students with homework – cannot be expanded.

Other “casualties” of this year’s budget battle include new student information software that would have given Manchester a technological edge. Also, 100 new positions - from assistant principals to teachers to support staff - that principals had requested could not be filled.
Because of No Child Left Behind, Manchester must now use a certain percentage of federal funds to pay for tutoring.

School Board Member Leslie Stewart says that amounts to about one-million dollars. She says without that money, other important programs will end.

“Specialized reading programs or math programs… professionals who might be helping kids one on one might have to be curtailed…equipment or supplies that might have to be purchased with Title 1 funds might have to be put on hold.”

Her fear is that, if programs have to be cut from schools that have been consistently making what the government considers Adequate Yearly Progress they too could be at risk of falling below the bar.

District officials estimate that it will take between 2 and 3 years to get Manchester out of “District in need of improvement” status.

Given budgetary and other obstacles, most agree that’s an adequate time frame. Newly revised results of federally-approved state tests are due out in mid-August.