Board of Finance members "very confused" and need educators' guidance, O'Brien says

The Bristol Board of Finance is filled with newcomers and doesn't understand how the school budget is different than other city departments, said Tom O'Brien, chairman of the school board's finance committee.
O'Brien said it is up to the board and district administrators to educate finance commissioners and convince them of the need to fund a $103 million school budget this year.
"They're very confused," said O'Brien. "They don't truly understand how it works."
The budget, approved by O'Brien's committee Monday, shows a 7.67 percent increase over the existing budget. It will be presented to the full school board next week.
As he and other board members reviewed a budget presentation by Superintendent Phil Streifer, O'Brien coached Streifer on how the case should be made to the finance commissioners.
"This is a marketing program," said O'Brien. "It's not just a budget request."
Finance commissioners should hear how much surrounding towns spend on education, as well as how much the urban districts in the region shell out, O'Brien said.
"We have to address the impressions that certain members of the board of finance have been fed by the controller," said O'Brien. "We have to be very clear and challenge the board of finance."
O'Brien told Streifer to limit the numbers and wording on his PowerPoint presentation to the finance board.
"More pictures, less words," instructed O'Brien. "If we do presentations with words and numbers, people tend to fall asleep."
To help principals be "instructional leaders" instead of "disciplinarians and bureaucrats," said O'Brien, the district should add four assistant principals. He said he wants to make sure he gets at least one.
O'Brien urged Streifer to talk about Bristol children in poverty and how poverty impacts educational costs.
"We cannot go backwards," said O'Brien. "We cannot afford to level off."
The school district's budget must cover unfunded state mandates, said O'Brien, especially with regard to special education.
If the school budget isn't fully funded, O'Brien said, "more and more of our budget will go to special education students, leaving less and less for everyone else."
That's how school systems collapse, said O'Brien.
The school district isn't like the police department, public works or the parks department, O'Brien said, because those aren't ordered to spend money on such mandates.
"We're getting hurt by the state," said O'Brien.
The board is also adding a small amount to the budget for Renzulli Learning, a computer program from the University of Connecticut for gifted students. Deputy Superintendent Susan Moreau said the $16,000 subscription would cover all the kids in the program in elementary and middle school, serving about 500 students in grades 4-8.
The school board meets next on March 5. The district has a budget hearing with finance board members March 27.

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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com