Less than two months after it was instituted, Berlin High School’s new $100-a-year student parking fee is raising complaints that have touched off a social media battle over local politics.
The new charge began in August to help balance a budget reduction that education advocates blame on the Republican-dominated town council. The council soon responded with a call to rescind the fee, saying it might not even be legal since the parking lot is town-owned property.
But the school board has said it’s already cut more than seven jobs from the payroll to make up for earlier reductions to the school system’s initial budget proposal, and has to generate new revenue to cover the latest $50,000 loss.
“We didn’t want to cut more paraprofessionals,” school board President Julia Dennis said Friday.
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Superintendent Brian Benigni acknowledged that this year’s budget had a bigger increase that usual, but still required job cuts because it didn’t keep pace with rapidly rising contractual costs and insurance premiums.
After a referendum last spring narrowly rejected the budget, the finance board wanted to send it to a new vote but the town council decided to cut $50,000 instead. The school system hoped to make up $20,000 of that by charging parking fees to 200 students.
In the past several weeks, residents on both side of the matter have begun weighing in on social media, and several taxpayers along with Mayor Richard Kaczynski went to the most recent school board meeting to push for a rollback.
“I pay taxes, and my taxes cover the property. If you’re going to collect revenue, you have to reimburse the town for the taxes,” resident Jim Phelps told the school board.
“Have you researched that from a legality issue and a liability issue? If someone gets injured on the property and you’re collecting money and the town’s liable, that’s a conflict of interest,” he asserted. “If you haven’t researched that, you’re going down a slippery slope. Are you charging the teachers?”
“The budget was raised by over 4%. I always vote in favor of the education budget,” Jennifer DeGrandi told the board. “But to charge students $100 to supplement an already generous budget is disgusting and appalling.”
Kaczynski publicly read a letter to the school board from Town Manager Ryan Curley recapping the council’s unanimous call for abandoning the fee.
“The council’s position is based on the fact that the parking lot is town-owned property and maintained by the town,” the letter said. “Further, the proposed fee would not be directed toward educational purposes (since the expenses associated with the maintenance of the parking lot are borne by the town) and, as such, would be tantamount to an unlawful appropriation.”
The school system’s attorney has a different view and has concluded the fee is legal, according to the school system.
Kaczynski posted the letter on his Facebook page, and it has appeared on at least one Berlin-related community page followed by comments criticizing both sides. Numerous people called for abolishing the fee, but others said Kaczynski and the council are to blame for cutting the school budget in the first place. Some described the whole public debate as a ploy to generate controversy before Election Day.
“How Trumpian to offer to ‘solve’ a problem of his own creation. And how very Mark to ensure our schools remain underfunded,” wrote Scott Maltzman.
After another person posted “What the heck this is so stupid. I could only figure that a Democrat came up with this one,” Maltzman replied that only one registered Democrat serves on the school board.
High schools across the state have no single rule on parking. West Hartford, East Hartford and Coventry, for instance, charge nothing. New Britain and Thomaston high schools charge $10, Enfield charges $35, Region 10 in Burlington and Harwinton has a $60 fee and New London charges $20.
Toward the higher end of the scale, parking for students costs $75 in New Milford, $100 in South Windsor and $200 in Darien, according to online student handbooks.
Depending on enrollment and available parking, many high schools restrict on-campus to only juniors and senior, or even only to seniors. Where the space crunch is most severe, spaces are awarded by lottery.
Berlin’s school board is expected to discuss the parking fee issue at its Nov. 24 meeting.