At the request of community members, the Greenwich PTA Council (PTAC) hosted an online Petition to the Greenwich Board of Estimation & Taxation (BET).
The petition went online at 6:00 AM on Monday, April 21st and will remain available for people to sign until May 5th.(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCMmJu96uNVOP0lwEIrky2DomyoRVZtlqMN7LxKBQBHa8IjQ/viewform?usp=sharing)
But as of Wednesday night – in just 2 ½ days – 1,560 people signed the petition, in agreement with this petition statement:
Petition to the Greenwich Board of Estimation & Taxation (BET):
We request that the BET call a special meeting before May 5th to reconsider the BOE/GPS operating budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, and to vote to increase funding to better meet the financial needs of THE Greenwich Public Schools.
The undersigned support this petition:
I do not agree with the BET decision to cut $4,048,621 from the proposed BOE/GPS operating budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Therefore, I request that the BET call a special meeting before May 5th to reconsider the BOE/GPS operating budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, and to vote to increase funding to better meet the financial needs of the Greenwich Public Schools
As the members of the BET are aware, Greenwich’s First Selectman issued a public statement calling on the BET to reconsider the budget, and the schools budget specifically (http://email.membershiptoolkit.com/ls/click?upn=u001.dP20uh2xUDz7Ju9WhAzXUBr2Tooe4BTsb3TF17fiPzdcFHg0TOWoqguZI2Gq98nhth1Vv1CB-2FmTqOUyl8BS9DA-3D-3D3DqW_SAPOqwHy9g6DF0cO1eRUKxT12U2bQ9bMgqqEgeV9wKj-2Ful-2FNW5KFIs4TP7yiYUSRStiQjNOU5MqlTdkMIXxjtxXp2bwJEdR4RHf3SS063YjK0BBAYsFGNaxNsaPloV5-2F-2BRo6rSVRx9Zz-2BpL0erlGqr9PkjW5-2FRUevIhqlXGIxefqdIMPvUpJ4oDrGdSnB4CawGLDKR8bYnS-2ByaoAyo2dXtd1AefXhcDLa6KYoxYL5px3LCX3NBCtRN-2B1ThyFG00BpudGdYOC3vIZkjt8DvRfqFokcfXePleAzZkTI6gGHM00XKyKUn2L1HuHHSzBcZr7oeir6HFXdvgcdY08WnavSpoqiLaBRe9D1uxWrMpicCKGPwbHTCqn-2Bpmc-2BVk5VclU).
And, as the members of the BET are also aware, the RTM took the unusual step of taking up and overwhelmingly passing a Sense of the Meeting Resolution that requests that the BET re-open the Operating Budget vote for Fiscal Year 2025-2026, to better meet the financial needs of Greenwich Public Schools (https://www.greenwichct.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04212025-7256)
And as the members of the BET are now aware, the community has presented a petition from a broad cross section of the community: 1,560 people (and counting!) who are Greenwich residents (85%) and Greenwich voters (70%), Greenwich educators (16%), Greenwich home owners (67%), business owners (10%) and rental and commercial property owners (4%), parents of children in the Greenwich Public Schools (76%) and parents of children in the private schools (12%). As of Wednesday night, 125 current students in the Greenwich Public Schools have signed the petition (and counting!), as have 214 adults who are former students in the Greenwich Public Schools (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FqPjIwfHE76mIpstiX2ED1yPONLetvqv/view?usp=sharing).
The PTAC Board of Directors and 1,560 members of our community urge the members of the BET to heed the calls from the community, from the RTM, from the First Selectman, and from others. Call a special meeting before May 5th. Vote to increase funding to better meet the financial needs of the Greenwich Public Schools.
The Greenwich PTA Council Board of Directors
John Fisher, President
