Despite the conciliatory tones coming from Mayor Moccia and Board of Estimate Chair Fred Wilms, the 4.8% budget increase coupled with the close to $1 million over run in construction at Norwalk High School should be enough to give pause on what authenticity numbers prepared by the eerstwhile Stuart Opdahl contain. Teachers, here in the comments, have been throwing red flags for months. The enrollment figures, the renovations, the overcrowding in some some schools, are all being mismanaged by Opdahl because he can’t seem to understand how to create accurate estimates.
In a year that saw the dramatic breakthrough of $100 a barrel oil, Opdahl is recommending that the status quo is fine, instead of aggressively seeking energy costs savings. No one is asking an obvious question such as why do the lights and heat burn at Norwalk High School most nights past 11 pm? Night school, understandably would be a good reason, but night school shouldn’t require an entire building to be ablaze, at least without a cost benefit analysis of infrastructure costs and alternative sites.
The continued lack of accountability of administration is another issue. Corda maintains he needs every administrator, whether it is on the third floor or in the schools. Yet recent hires of a housemaster at Brien McMahon, had been AWOL, and the continued handling of food services, Bruce Morris, and curciculum screw ups by Karen Lang show that money is wasted on teaching materials, textbooks, technology and staff.
A longer review of the budget will be forthcoming, but until then feel free to add other areas that deserve comment or greater scrutiny.
