Headline from The Milford-Orange Times, March 13, 2025 issue
There’s been lots of news about education at the federal level this year. But what does it mean for Amity?
We’ll break down what’s going on, what’s at stake for Amity, and why your vote this Election Day in the towns of Bethany, Orange, and Woodbridge makes a difference.
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Locally: In February, Republican party leaders in Orange sent a letter to Amity urging the schools to take action to comport with an executive order against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives (copy of letter below).
The letter stated, “the school could be subject to a formal reporting on this matter to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for investigation and enforcement action. (emphasis from the letter).
In the meantime, those same party leaders and their Board candidates are calling for a reduction in the Superintendents’ budgets.
Nationally: In June, the US Dept of Education withheld $6.2b in funding for several weeks before pressure from Congress caused them to release it. This money was appropriated to send to states for allocation to its schools - Connecticut’s share is $46.9 million.
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Amity currently receives ~ $900k in federal grants, about 1.5% of its operating budget.
The grants are for:
Special education (roughly half)
Programs to support lower-income students, such as school lunch assistance
A disruption to that funding would require the District and Board to decide whether or not to allocate funds to support those who need it the most.
Note - the district receives far more funding from Connecticut than federal grants.
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This is yet another complication to planning and managing school finances. The Amity administration and Board need to consider how they would respond to a potential mid-year change in federal funding.
Do they continue to fully fund these programs?
How do they plan for uncertainty and/or contingency in the budget planning process?
Nationally, the state of funding public education is uncertain, leading to potential risk for school district budgeting.
Locally, Republican candidates and party leaders in Orange have made it clear they wish for the school to reduce budgetary asks in an effort to tighten spending.
Since the District‘s educational reserve fund “savings account” is completely designated for capital improvements, it’s not clear a 1.5% loss in revenue could be easily made up without disrupting operations or capital planning.
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How the District can plan for these times of uncertainty is determined by support from the Board.
We urge all voters to do their research to learn where the Amity Board candidates stand on fiscally responsible budgeting and other issues that matter to them.
For more information on the candidates, please see our Voter Guide.
The letter from the Orange Republican party to the Amity administration and Board of Education, dated 2/20/25:
Disclaimer - the above was completely written by me, with no input from outside of my organization, Amity Allies. We work independently of the Amity administration, Board members, candidates, and political parties to bring you accurate, non-partisan information relating to the Amity District, which is responsible for educating 7th-12th graders in the towns of Bethany, Orange, and Woodbridge.
[signed]
Robert Lim
Chairperson and Co-Founder, Amity Allies