Notes from the Board of Aldermen (Dec. 4, 2023)
Reviewing the Board of Education's projected enrollment and space utilization report
Dear Milford resident (or anyone visiting this page),
When I first ran for office, too often I heard on the campaign trail — and from friends — that they were not aware of the goings on in our great city.
So, in the spirit of transparency, I began posting my “notes” on Facebook from the Board of Education (BOE) meetings during my two terms (2019-2023) because this seat is not mine, but yours. You deserve to know what is being discussed about issues that will impact your life the most. And you deserve to know how I view those issues of the day.
Whether my “notes” were helpful or resourceful is another story; however, after being elected to the Board of Aldermen (BOA) this past November, I intend to carry on that tradition. But Substack is much easier to edit (and include data/imagery) than Facebook. Ironically, this is a long-winded way of saying that I hope to present the meeting — and my commentary — in a succinct, clear fashion.
So without further ado, what happened at the BOA meeting on Dec. 4?…
Appointments, Budget Transfers, and Refunds
…Honestly, not much in terms of items the BOA approved, except for:
civil appointments on various boards and commissions (see below);
the elevation of Milford Point Road and Bayview to reduce flooding in those areas; and
giving Mayor Tony Giannantassio and his staff authority to “effectuate” Milford’s highway safety project (which was approved by the state Dept. of Transportation).
Additionally, the BOA approved budget transfers from ‘Contingency Funds’ to cover a deficit in the City’s medical and dental accounts, provide uniforms and safety gear for employees working on road and drain maintenance, to replace floor scrubber machines, and fund the “Tire Disposal account in Solid Waste.” The BOA also approved $8,983.04 worth of refunds “direct to taxpayers and/or banks.”
Enrollment in Schools
However, the majority of the meeting focused on the “Facility Utilization Study” presented by the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Anna Cutaia. Now, I reported on this while serving on the BOE back in October; but here is a background refresher:
Earlier this year, then-Mayor Ben Blake directed the Board of Finance to cut the BOE’s budget by a significant amount; but the only way the BOE could comply with the cut was closing down a school (most likely Harborside Middle School) — or persuade the BOA to fund the budget enough to prevent a closure. (The below video is when I addressed the BOA on the issue)
Ultimately, the BOA mostly funded the BOE’s budget (by $1.6 million). A school was saved. However, as a request, the BOA asked the Superintendent to project enrollment in Milford Public Schools (MPS) to determine whether a school closure would be necessary to prevent a financial burden on the city’s residents.
The report was conducted by SLAM — who annually works with MPS on enrollment projections. However, their study looked at the next 10 years, offering high, medium and low trends (determined by birth rates, the housing market/migration etc.). As of right now, MPS enrollment is at 5,330 — yet overall enrollment has fallen by 2,070 students since the 2007-08 school year. (The below images were taken from the report)
Dr. Cutaia has noted in the past that enrollment has ‘leveled off’ around 5,000+ students; and if SLAM’s 10-year projections are accurate, it will stay relatively the same (high: 5,558; medium: 5,400; low: 5,183).
The Superintendent also discussed educational trends from the 1960s to the present day, showing that education is becoming more flexible and collaborative, and how MPS plans to use school space for future programming (i.e. culinary arts, robotics, STEM). Hence, the image below — classrooms are becoming more specialized. So is MPS using its space well? SLAM determined that the schools’ overall “utilization” rate (percentage of space used) for Elementary, Middle and High School. They are as follows:
Elementary is at 79% for 2023-24, and averaging 85% for the latter half of the projection horizon.
Middle School is at 78%, with utilization ranging from 75% to 82% over the next
decade.
High School is 74%, with utilization averaging 69% over the first 5-years and 66%
over the last 5-years.
Bottom line: elementary and middle school are/will be at a higher capacity than the high schools over the next ten years, and are using their space better than Jonathan Law and Foran High School.
While Dr. Cutaia hopes the utilization rate would eventually fall between 85-95%, she stressed that education is not necessarily a “bricks and mortar” discussion; instead, Milford should shift to a “use of education space” mindset.
When the presentation was over, Dr. Cutaia took several questions. Minority Leader Scott Marlow asked if the utilization rate and projections accounted for future educational trends, of which Dr. Cutaia assured she was keeping an eye on — and that the flexibility of school space would handle those trends. Alderman Win Smith, however, was unsure about the projections considering SLAM’s projected birth rates — noting the inconsistency between Milford’s increased births, as opposed to the dropping birth rates in the United States and countries around the world. To paraphrase, Milford would be an outlier.
His rationale was that the budget, programming and space usage predicated on the birth rate projections. He wanted assurance that SLAM’s research was correct, and how they got the data below. Dr. Cutaia promised to follow up with the BOA on SLAM’s formula.
But to briefly comment on shifting from a “brick and mortar” mindset: while Milford wants to provide the best possible education for its students, we have to know if the city’s residents can also afford every school currently operating. After all, the budget fiasco from earlier this year was — if you take then-Mayor Blake’s decision at face value — a financial decision to keep taxes low rather than over enrollment concerns. If enrollment concerns are indeed not concerns at all (as projected by SLAM), the city may have to confront those financial burdens again in the future if we don’t do our due diligence — because none of us want to close a school.
Hopefully, the BOA will get that information regarding the birth rate projections, and possibly the projected operating costs over the next few years; I will report back if/when I receive that data.
With that, thank you for staying this long. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out or comment below!
The next meeting will be Jan. 8, 2024.