| A new “wake-up call” for Greenwich schools This Letter to the Editor by Democratic BET member Matt DesChamps was published in the Greenwich Free Press, August 28, 2025 |
As the days grow shorter and the crisp air of autumn approaches, a new school year is on the horizon. Soon, the 6:18 a.m. sunrise will follow the 6:17 a.m. school bus pickup time. This requires a wake-up call for Greenwich families that rivals West Point cadets’. This year, our community faces significant changes, including a reduced budget and earlier start times and perhaps, most importantly, larger class sizes. These adjustments have many residents wondering how we arrived at this point and what the best way forward is.
A look at the school budget process
The Board of Education (BOE) initially passed a budget with a 5% year-over-year increase after a thorough review. This was an overwhelmingly bipartisan decision, realized after careful consideration of the contractual and programmatic needs of our schools, as well as federal funding cuts.
The Board of Estimate and Taxation’s (BET) Republicans unilaterally voted to reduce the budget by $4 million without consulting the BOE or performing any analysis. With a budget constrained by existing labor contracts, reduced Title I Federal funding, and state-mandated programs, the Republican BET’s school budget was not enough to maintain essential services. The BOE and Greenwich Public Schools administration were then faced with the difficult task of finding on short notice $4 million in cost reductions. This meant making difficult choices and identifying the “least worst” options for cuts.
The impact on our community
As a result of these cuts, numerous positions were eliminated, and recently-implemented later start times for high schoolers were reversed. The 2017 shift was intended to benefit student health and well being, but the new, earlier schedule forces students, parents, and teachers to adjust to earlier wake-up calls. In addition, sizes for certain classes are 24 students, which is challenging for teachers to manage let alone teach. Have you ever hosted a birthday party of 24 6-10 year olds? Now try and teach them math. How to spell. Fun times.
This situation highlights a core issue facing our town: how to balance fiscal responsibility with the needs of our public schools and community. And this year’s budget is a failure to find that balance. Everyone agrees that our public schools are a significant investment. The challenge is in finding a path forward that funds our schools effectively while also being mindful of the budget.
That cannot be done without financial leaders who have real-world experience in budgeting and cost control and make decisions informed by facts, not politics. And the public school cut is a prime example of the failure of the current Republican BET leadership and why the party is desperately searching for replacements.
Moving forward, it’s important for residents to stay informed. Many different factors, including labor contracts and state mandates, play a role in shaping the school and town operating budget. The issues are complex and require BET members who are competent financial professionals, not political ideologues.
We call BS
Greenwich Republicans cut school funding, then try to call it something else
With teens and parents struggling to adjust to earlier start times this school year, bus pickups as early as 6:25 a.m., and new bus routes in disarray, it’s no wonder that Fred Camillo and his party are tying themselves in knots trying to avoid taking responsibility.
This spring, at the eleventh hour and on a party-line vote, the Republican members of the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) voted to give the Board of Education (BOE) $4 million less than they need. But Republicans won’t call it a cut. Instead, they are playing a game of words.
Here are the facts
To meet contractual obligations, while accounting for cuts in federal funding and rising costs, the Greenwich BOE voted on a bipartisan basis to request a 5% budget increase over last year. BET Republicans approved an arbitrary 3% increase, $4 million less than what the BOE said they needed—an amount that barely keeps up with inflation and fails to account for any contractual cost increases.
Whether you call it a “trim” or a “reduction in an increase,” the fact is that our schools were left with a $4 million shortfall, necessitating staff layoffs, larger class sizes, and notably rejiggering bus schedules to save money and forcing earlier high school start times for teens who need more sleep.
These six Republican members of the BET all voted in April for the $4 million school budget cut. They are, from left: Nisha Arora, Harry Fisher, Karen Fassuliotis, Lucia Jansen, Leslie Tarkington and David Alfano.
Do they think we’re stupid?
Fred Camillo recently lost his cool when a caller to his radio show dared to use the word “cut” while asking about the budget impact on bus schedules. Yet, just a few months ago, Fred himself called the Republican BET action a “cut.” In his April 2 statement he wrote: “The proposed $4 million cut to our schools is an action that I am respectfully asking the BET to reconsider.”
Now Greenwich Republicans are taking a page right out of the GOP’s national playbook: attack public schools, deny the damage, then try to spin the story.
Lying about cuts to our schools is an insult to the intelligence of Greenwich’s residents. Democrats prefer to call things what they are. No amount of spin from Republicans will lessen the serious consequences and widespread disruptions for students, families and educators.
WHAT WE’RE READING
In recent elections, Republican BET candidates have used the scare tactic of high taxes under Democratic leadership to try to hold on to their majority. In this Letter to the Editor, the Democratic candidates dispel that myth. “When Democrats held the BET majority after the 2017 election, the mill rate increase was 0% in year 1 and 2.75% in year 2 for an average of 1.4%, less than half of the 2.9% average under Republican BET control in the prior decade.”
Action calendar
September 9. Tune in.
Tune in to Trevor & Friends for Trevor Crow’s conversation with Democratic BET members David Weisbrod and Elliot Alchek, WGCH AM 1490 or online, noon.
September 14. Picnic.
Join us for our Campaign Kick-Off Picnic, an informal afternoon of food, conversation, and community. Meet local, state and federal leaders, connect with neighbors, and help us build momentum for a better Greenwich. Tod’s Point clambake area. Tickets here.
September 17. Meet.
Greenwich Democrats monthly meetings are open to all Democrats in town. Join us in the Town Hall Meeting Room at Greenwich Town Hall, 101 Field Point Road, 7:30 p.m.
| Volume 4, Number 11 • September 4, 2025 |
| Paid for by the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee. |
| Greenwich Democratic Town Committee P.O. Box 126 Greenwich, CT 06836 |