Latest news with #NorwichFreeAcademy
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Preston school board approves budget with 6.5% increase
Preston — The Board of Education voted Monday to approve the proposed 2025-26 school budget of $16.02 million. The plan still requires approval by the Board of Finance, and town voters at a referendum. While presenting the budget to the school board Monday, Superintendent of Schools Roy Seitsinger explained the $988,542, or 6.5%, increase over the current $15.03 budget, is mostly the results of fixed costs, or increases out of the district's control, including contractually obligated raises and benefits for staff and administrators, and rising costs for special education and secondary tuition. The tuition is needed to pay for district students to attend Norwich Free Academy, or North Stonington or Griswold high schools. Those do not include technical schools, which Seitsinger said the district doesn't pay tuition for. Increases to staffs' salaries and benefits account for 41.5% of the total budget increase. Special education costs account for 23.6% while secondary tuition costs account for 20.8% of the increase. Meanwhile, the proposal calls for no new programs and staff has not been reduced. Seitsinger said the only new staff changes contributing to the increase are a half-time bus driver, and stipends for coaches that resulted from adding three new sports teams this year. Because the state has not yet decided how much school districts will receive in state aid, the town, which currently receives about $3.5 million, will have to wait for an update. Seitsinger said if more aid comes to the town before the school board's March 27 budget presentation to the Board of Finance, the funding will be used to lower the budget increase. Meanwhile, he said the school board will try to pare down" the budget before then. On Monday, the majority of the school board agreed the budget was not extravagant and had little room for further cuts. Before Monday, administrators and the school board's finance committee had examined an initial proposal and cut $341,679. Cuts included reducing a full-time bus driver to half time, and eliminating about $50,000 to clean dust off the girders in the schools' gyms. Five members voted in favor of the spending plan, while Republican member Courtney Ennis, who said she didn't want to vote on a budget she had only had two days to look at, and still had questions about, abstained. Democrat board member Michael Hinton, a member of the board's finance committee, described the budget as "unfortunately realistic," and considerate of "a challenging period in our history." "The expectation that it's going to be further cut is an incredibly terrifying one for me," Hinton added. "Because the cut, as I've already characterized, I think is already down to the bone. To go further is going to be impacting service to students." "There's not a lot of wiggle room I'm getting," Republican member Nicole Serra had agreed. Hinton said should more significant cuts need to be made, they would have to come from non-tenured teachers, or school programs. "And there aren't many programs, he said.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
History comes to life at Norwich Free Academy for Connecticut History Day Regional Contest
It wouldn't have been unusual to see a Civil War general walking around Norwich Free Academy on Saturday. The Connecticut Democracy Center held the Connecticut History Day Norwich Regional Contest. Students from multiple schools researched and presented on topics in history related to the contest theme of Rights and Responsibilities in History. The projects were judged on quality of research, perspectives, presentation, and relation to the theme, among other points. There are a total of five regional contests. The top three projects from each of those advance to the state level competition in May, and those winners advance to the National History Day competition in June, Executive Director of the Connecticut Democracy Center at the Old State House Sally Whipple said. 'We're looking to see how well kids are using their critical thinking skills and how well they are expressing themselves, so it's a lot of things to judge on,' she said. Student projects could be papers, exhibits, documentaries, performances or websites. Most projects were based on topics in American History, from an exhibit on the Hubble Space Telescope to an Amistad Documentary. A few foreign history topics were presented, from a documentary on Pol Pot and the Cambodian Genocide, to a paper on The Right to Education in South Africa During Apartheid. While the history day contest encourages a love of history, it also gives the students the agency to pick their own topic, encourages them to share their voice, and teaches them information literacy skills, Whipple said. NFA has hosted a regional competition for five years. It's the perfect venue because of the school's own rich history, and the school encourages its students to compete. Students will spend hours and hours to edit their projects and make sure everything is right, NFA Head of History and Social Studies Karen Cook said. 'This is the day it's all worth it to them,' she said. Fifty judges participated in the Norwich event, ranging from educators and museum staff, to retirees to friends of the organizers, Lisa June, Norwich Regional coordinator for Connecticut History Day, said. 'They come from all walks of life,' she said. The judges are tasked with both scoring and providing helpful feedback, Whipple said. While it's a competition, having students take an active interest in history is the most important part, Social Studies Consultant Stephen Armstrong of the Connecticut State Department of Education said. 'These are kids putting themselves in history,' he said. 'They did the research and act as historians.' Participating schools included NFA, East Lyme High School, Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, The Mohegan Tribe Department of Education, and the Interdistrict School for Arts and Community of New London. There were 90 projects in total. NFA Junior Cobain Jones and Senior Harold Trafford performed 'Burning Bridges: McClellan and Burnside at Antietam' Their performance was a fictionalized dialogue in September 1862 between then Union General George McCellan and later Union General Ambrose Burnside. Both students were dressed in era-appropriate clothes, and Jones had a large costume moustache for his portrayal of McCellan. The dialogue, is based on correspondence between the men and others. In the dialogue, Burnside criticized McClellan's tactics and his hands-off stance on liberating Confederate slaves. Jones' interest in the Civil War came from visiting Gettysburg last year and learning that he is related to another Civil War General, George Meade. 'I've been (at NFA) for three years, and I haven't done a History Day project once, so I though why not,' he said. Jones asked Trafford to help, because Trafford has an interest in 18th and 19th century history. The students felt their performance went well. Interdistrict Eighth Grade Students Jay'Den Russell and Olivia Campbell made an exhibit about The Pequot War. Fellow Eighth Grade students Emireth Fiat and Akaiya Allen made an exhibit about The Life of Venture Smith. People should still learn about The Pequot War because the Pequot peoples had their rights violated, 'and it's just not fair for them,' Russell said. As for Venture Smith, he was the son of an Africa prince. Smith was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Connecticut. He eventually bought his freedom and became a successful businessman, Fiat said. '(History Day) is a good opportunity to pick a topic you want to learn about,' Allen said. This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich Free Academy hosts Connecticut History Day Regional Contest
