November 18, 2014 - - First Selectman Timothy M. Herbst and School Superintendent Dr. Gary Cialfi announced Tuesday that they have begun initial discussions concerning the 2015-2016 budget and their conversations have focused on a mutual effort to reduce pay to participate fees for student programs within the school system, with a long term plan to phase out these fees over the next few years.
"First Selectman Herbst and I have had preliminary meetings to discuss the budget for fiscal year 2015-2016. He and I are both mutually committed in this budget cycle to working collaboratively to reduce pay to participate fees for our student programs within the schools, with a long term plan to eventually phase out these fees over the next few years," stated Dr. Cialfi. The budget the school superintendent will propose to the Board of Education will include reductions in pay to participate fees for athletic and fine arts programs throughout the district. The First Selectman indicated that this action by the school district is a positive step in the right direction. “For the last three years, with a lot of help from Dr. Cialfi and many volunteers, we have had a charity golf classic that has raised money for student programs at Trumbull High School. A good portion of this money has been used to provide financial relief for pay to participate fees. This next step of reducing pay to participate fees in the operating budget provides financial relief to many Trumbull families while allowing our students to continue to thrive.”
The First Selectman lauded the School Superintendent for tackling this and many other issues in less than a year and a half at the helm as Trumbull’s School Superintendent. He also lauded both Republicans and Democrats on the Trumbull Board of Education for taking a non-partisan, reform minded approach to making the school district even stronger. “Over the last year and a half the Superintendent and the Board of Education have worked collaboratively and positively on so many initiatives. They have reformed the facilities department, the human resources department, eliminated portable classrooms and improved security at each and every one of our schools. They have also delivered realistic budgets that understand the practical constraints our taxpayers are facing. I look forward to working collaboratively with them this year to reduce pay to participate fees and improve classroom technology while delivering a reasonable budget.”