Education supporters want funds restored for Monroe’s schools, a budget ballot question

MONROE, Conn. —- A few education supporters spoke at the Town Council’s budget hearing Thursday night to make their case for the Board of Finance to restore all of the funding that has been cut from Superintendent Joseph Kobza’s request for Monroe’s public schools, and to ask for a ballot question giving voters the opportunity to express why they vote yes or no at the upcoming budget referendum this spring.

Kobza made a $78,553,993 education budget request, which was since reduced by $250,000 by the Board of Education and by another $1.6 million by First Selectman Terry Rooney. If it is approved as is, education spending will increase by 2.68 percent rather than Kobza’s request of 5.16 percent.

The superintendent has said built-in costs of the operating budget — salaries, health insurance, transportation and special education increases — accounted for 5.05 percent of the requested increase, leaving $191,997 or 0.25 percent for new requests, including a new assistant principal position to meet growing needs at Stepney Elementary School, a 0.2 full time equivalent (FTE) for a math skills teacher at Jockey Hollow Middle School and a 0.3 FTE for a speech language pathologist at Fawn Hollow Elementary School.

Rooney proposed a $111.9 million town budget, which includes municipal expenses, with a 3.68 percent tax increase for fiscal year 2026-27. Overall, the Board of Education budget would increase from $74,700,763 to $76,700,763.

“This budget reflects an increase in our investment in education of $2 million over the current year, which shows Monroe’s commitment to investing in education, understanding of education’s impact on home values, and the overall importance education has in our Monroe Community,” Rooney wrote in a letter on the town website, introducing his proposal.

Municipal expenditures for town services and debt service would increase by $2,070,233 or 6.33 percent, from $32,692,912 to $34,763,145.

The first selectman is proposing a 1.06 mill increase to the tax rate, which is used to calculate individual tax bills, raising the rate from 28.67 to 29.73 mills. Individual tax bills can be calculated by multiplying one’s assessed property value by the mill rate and then dividing by 1,000.

Rooney said this represents an average monthly household tax increase of $30 to $35 based on a median home value of $524,740.

The Town Council can only review and revise the municipal side of the budget, before the entire town budget proposal is reviewed by the Board of Finance, which could potentially make changes to both town and education spending. However, the finance board can only change amounts of education funding and cannot dictate how the money will be spent.

Once the Board of Finance adopts a final proposal, the new budget will be decided by the town’s voters during a referendum to be held on May 5.

The public hearing

Susan Koneff, a retired teacher in town, said she and her husband moved to Monroe years ago so their sons could benefit from Monroe’s school system, but budget cuts have eroded what has been offered over the years, as well as leading to the deteriorating condition of the town’s school buildings.

She said it is time to have an advisory question on the budget ballot allowing voters to say “no too low,” “no too high” or “yes, just right.”

Tiffany LoConte, a parent and a teacher at Fawn Hollow, said schools face pressure from rising costs of things like utilities and health insurance and budget cuts usually take things away from the children. LoConte said building maintenance program updates have been postponed over the years to control budget increases.

LoConte also noted how she was able to count 24 Fawn Hollow staff members who live in town, so budget reductions directly affect people’s neighbors, she said.

“If we truly value strong schools, then we need to move from reactive budgeting to intentional investment,” she said. “What facilities are required for safe learning? Children thrive in predictable, well supported environments. We want to move ahead, rather than the continual tightening.”

LoConte asked that town officials trust the superintendent and his team, restore money to the education budget and have an advisory question on the ballot.

Marie Blake, a retired teacher in town, expressed concerns over the budget reductions and criticized the adjustments made by the Republican majority on the Board of Education and the first selectman. She said Kobza put together a budget that meets the needs of the district and wanted to know the reason for cuts to his proposal.

“Why? Do you think there’s fluff in the budget?” Blake asked. “I trust the superintendent. I don’t think there is fluff to the tune of $1.8 million in the budget.”

She said one school board member asked if “we can limp along” until a decision is made on a building project, and expressed her belief that Monroe cannot.

“I implore you to put the funds back in the budget and let the town decide,” Blake said.

Elizabeth Richer, a parent, asked officials to include the non-binding advisory question on the ballot. “I feel so strongly about education,” she said. “I hope the Board of Finance will restore all of the money so voters can decide on it.”

One resident said it would be helpful if town officials could inform residents of how restoring the education funds would impact the average taxpayer.

Jennifer Aguilar, a former Town Council member who is currently a para-educator at Fawn Hollow, said she wished she had pictures to show the deteriorating condition of the building, resulting from the town “kicking the can down the road” on infrastructure improvements over the years.

“I understand nobody wants their taxes to go up,” she said. “I remember the first selectman, who did his due diligence on his budgets,” Aguilar said of her time on the Town Council. “I approved his budgets, because I trusted he did his job. Please do that for the superintendent.”

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