Director of Instruction Position Dominates Education Budget Talk

Naugatuck school administrators are adamant that they need someone to oversee new state-mandated changes to the public school system.

Some of that person’s duties would include rewriting and implementing new curriculum so there are no gaps in learning between kindergarten and 12th grade and overseeing new teacher and administrator evaluations.

But some local government officials look at the price tag for the proposed director of instruction position - $134,015 – and get a bit of sticker shock.

That position dominated much of the discussion Monday night at Naugatuck High School when members of the Board of Education and school administrators discussed their proposed $59.69 million budget with the joint boards of finance and burgesses.

No vote was taken Monday as the meeting was an informational session for borough officials to get a better understanding about the proposed budget, which calls for a 2.77 percent increase. 

Board of Finance members Matt Katra and Dan Sheridan questioned the funding for the director of instruction position, and Sheridan noted that $25,000 should be added to the discussion because the budget indicates a part-time secretary could be hired to help the person in that role. They also questioned why the position was needed on top of an asssistant superintendent. 

Board of Finance member Andy Bottinick questioned whether the position could be funded for one year and then re-evaluated. And Deputy Mayor Tamath Rossi and Burgess Ron San Angelo wondered whether there were other ways to manage those duties using people who already work for the school district.

Board of Education Chairman Dave Heller explained: “When we asked administrators, 'what single position do you need, where should we focus our money?’ …they came back to us that we need another person to focus on curriculum." 

He said principals have been out of their buildings for many hours already this year preparing new teacher evaluation procedures, working with teachers on curriculum and discussing other educational changes coming in the next two years through the Common Core State Standards. The director of instruction would oversee those initiatives so that principals can focus more on running their respective schools.

“This individual will impact every administrator, educator and student,” said Naugatuck High School Principal Janice Saam. “There has got to be someone who sees the big picture. To take someone out of the school to do this, I think you are robbing Peter to pay Paul …I don’t say this lightly because I know every dollar we have comes out of somewhere else, but we were asked if we were willing to give something up to get this position, and we’d be willing to do that if we had to.”

The board also discussed four new paraprofessional positions being proposed for special education. The school district says they are necessary because the number of students classified as needing special education services is increasing.

Sheridan suggested that if the amount necessary to fund those positions is allocated - $62,2000 – then that same amount should be taken out of the fund for substitutes since they are being called upon to do that work, currently. 

For more information on the budget, see details attached to this article. There are three PDFs attached:

1. A summary of the budget proposal

2. Major changes to the budget over the current plan

3. The full budget proposal