Action Alert - April 2024: $1.3M Cut From BOE Adopted Budget. Plan to be at City Hall on 4/15.

Once again we need your help to safeguard our schools and our district’s tremendous progress.

• SAVE THE DATE - Monday, April 15, 5:30 pm at City Hall to appeal to our Board of Aldermen to reinstate cuts to our BOE adopted budget and Stand for Milford, CT Schools.
• On Monday, April 8, at 7 pm our elected Board of Education will publicly discuss the potential impact of the Board of Finance’s recent 3-2 vote to cut $1,335,429 from the adopted 2024-25 school budget. Directions to the meeting can be found here.

The Board of Ed 2024-25 adopted budget of $111,285,770 reflected a 4.7% increase over the previous year’s budget and stands as a prudent financial commitment to the ongoing advancement of Milford Public Schools, especially considering Milford’s strong grand list and fiscal health.

The appointed Board of Finance voted on March 20th to reduce this by $1.3M.

This cut threatens critical programs our community has supported and potential new ones:

• Updating curriculum
• Upgrades to security measures
• World languages, digital equipment, elementary school counselors, musical instruments, e-sports
• Pathways that prepare our students for the competitive economy of the 21st Century

How will this cut affect our schools? We will learn more on Monday night, but with much of the requested increase devoted to fixed costs of salaries, and benefits, rising transportation and fuel costs, and contracted services related to special education, it is safe to assume that these reductions will result in programmatic impact.

What can we do? Last year, thanks to the efforts of thousands of Milford citizens through rallies, petitions, letters, and public testimony, the Board of Aldermen, the Democratic majority and Republican minority, with Mayor Giannattasio in the position of Minority Leader, showed bipartisan and unanimous support for restoring education funding. This followed a diligent process of consideration and strong, outspoken community support.

Again this year, we will look to our elected Aldermen for their diligence. And, we call on Mayor Giannattasio to keep his campaign promise to prominently advocate for education funding.

SAVE THE DATE - Monday, April 15, 5:30 pm at City Hall for the Board of Aldermen Budget Hearing. This is your opportunity to Stand for Milford, CT Schools and once again show your support for reinstating cuts to our BOE adopted budget.

Education lies at the heart of a vibrant Milford community. Another year of deferred investments risks weakening our community and diminishing Milford's appeal to small businesses and homeowners alike.

Key Links:

• Support Milford Schools NOW - use our template to email your Alder
• The Board of Ed’s proposed budget - our overview and FAQs
• Watch the Board of Finance Discussion and Vote
• MPS Budget Central has all presentations and recordings

We’ll see you soon at City Hall as we Stand for Milford CT Schools!

- Milford Ed Advocates

 

Update - October 2023:

We achieved a remarkable victory this year for Milford schools, thanks to your support. Over 2,000 residents acted to prevent a school closing, protect our teachers from layoffs, and preserve vital programs such as STEM and world languages.

How can we ensure that we never face this crisis again? How do we create the schools of our dreams for our kids and our community? How can we guarantee that Milford's children won't have to worry about what school they’ll attend next year?

VOTE on Tuesday, Nov 7 - Your vote MATTERS for education funding. 

Follow us on Facebook for regular updates and to learn more about the Board of Ed candidates.

In October, attend Community Conversations at Foran (Oct 4th) and Jonathan Law (Oct 16th) to shape funding and education priorities for years to come. 

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Original petition - March 2023:

RESTORE DEVASTATING REDUCTIONS TO MILFORD'S PROPOSED EDUCATION BUDGET!

Calling All Milford Residents!

On March 15, the Board of Finance slashed the adopted Board of Ed budget by $1,844,816. Allowing this cut to stand would have a devastating impact on our schools.

To put this into perspective a similar budget reduction of 2.2 million in 2010 was a major factor in the closing of Simon Lake Elementary School.

This cut means the threat of:

• losing another one of our schools,
• loss of sports and extracurriculars,
• class size increases across the board,
• wiping away the progress we have made toward high-quality education, world languages in all grades, career pathways, STEM labs, and more to accommodate a cut this large.

We need your help to safeguard our schools and our district’s tremendous progress.

Here's the mission: Milford's Board of Alderman has the power to turn things around. We need 10 valiant aldermen (A supermajority) to VOTE TO RESTORE REDUCTIONS made to our Board of Ed's adopted budget. 

Please sign the petition to Save Milford CT Schools asking Milford Aldermen to restore $1,844,816 of cuts to our education budget. 

And how much would this measure cost the average homeowner in Milford???  For someone who owns a home with a median property value of $400,000, you would pay an additional $42 a YEAR in taxes to safeguard high-quality education in Milford. That’s it. (Click here for more detailed info)

Ready to show your support for education in Milford? Let's unite and make a difference. Sign below and spread the word! ✍️