By Jody Dietch
On May 31, the residents of Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge rejected the budget put forth by the Amity Regional School Board of Education via referendum. At the time, many residents were upset that a diversity, equity and inclusion coach position was in the budget. This position was budgeted at 0.5 which means half a full-time position. Peanuts compared to the overall budget. That alone speaks volumes as to where those not supporting the Amity budget are coming from.
That position has since been removed from the budget and will be funded by grant money. This still has many upset. I am a graduate of Amity as are my sons. Amity’s diversity has certainly increased since I graduated in 1980 but we still have a long way to go. A DEI coach helps our teachers with their lessons and our more diverse student body. Sounds like a great idea to me. Many corporations have DEI coaches and many universities do as well. If we want to send our children out into the world best prepared for life beyond the cushy life they have in the BOW area, a DEI coach at Amity will help with that.
With DEI out of the budget, many have turned their focus to Amity’s annual surplus. As a regional school system, a surplus becomes a necessity. If the school runs out of money, they can’t just go back to the towns and ask for more, as a local, for example, Orange Board of Education has done. Remember the burst pipe at Peck Place School?
This has become a very contentious issue in the three towns and very divisive. Some of us spoke at a recent Orange Board of Finance meeting but had to leave to attend another meeting. The Orange Board of Finance chair and vice chair have been anti-Amity for years, mostly because they have no control over it.
At that meeting on June 6, which I just had the opportunity to review, the chairman said, in referring to the Amity superintendent, “she’s a dictator.” This is one example of his frustration of not being able to control the school system. The vice chair, who is a self-appointed financial expert, said he put together a presentation that “I think is fact based.”
He “thinks”? He doesn’t know?
Another member – a Democratic member – noted how everything is going up for people. He noted that residents’ utilities are going up, clothing. Right. Everything is going up, and that holds true for the schools as well.
The other Democratic member said, “I am okay with Amity having a surplus.” He noted that the surplus was about $400,000 in 2007. In 15 years, one would expect the expenses and thus surplus to also increase.
The chair also noted that in 2008, the Orange Board of Finance – as if it is the only Board of Finance that has input (there are two other towns involved here) – asked the superintendent at the time to not add any new positions but they did anyway. Who do I want deciding what’s best for our students’ education? A superintendent and board of education or a local town board of finance?
Finally, the vice chair said at the end of his presentation, “I think this is straight information.” Again, he “thinks” it is, but in reality we know it isn’t. He has consistently manipulated the data to prove his points and has used his elected position to advocate his perspective.
Don’t be fooled by their Emperor’s New Clothes strategy. Vote yes on Tuesday, June 14.
Jody Dietch is the chair of the Orange Democratic Town Committee and a former candidate for first selectman.