Masuk Free Press

[Note: As of publishing, the Board of Education budget remains as stated in the following article, however, Monroe First Selectman Terry Rooney recommended to the Board of Finance to restore $1.2 million to the Board of Education budget, for the 2027 school year. The changes mentioned in the following article are subject to change.]

Monroe Public Schools, the school district that runs Masuk High School, is currently being faced with budget cuts that could impact students. A $1.85 million budget cut, $250,000 reduced by the Board of Education, with the remaining $1.6 million being reduced by Monroe First Selectman Terry Rooney. 

The reduced budget may cause the following changes to be made for the 2026-2027 school year, which were proposed by Superintendent Joseph Kobza at a Board of Education meeting on March 2:

• Reduction of certified staff.
• Increased class sizes.
• Fewer elective offerings.
• Possible changes to world language. 
• Elimination of freshman sports.
• Elimination of several clubs.
• Moving eighth grade to Masuk.
• Jockey Hollow transitions to a six-seven school.
• Elimination of STEM Academy.

Many parents in Monroe have expressed concerns about having eight graders in Masuk. At Masuk, the eighth graders would be fully integrated, sharing classes and teachers, using Masuk buses, and taking part in Masuk activities. 

Masuk Principal Steven Swensen shared some of the potential changes that could come to Masuk High School for next school year. “One of the things that I proposed [to cut], that was new in the Masuk budget, was [the] homework club. Essentially, it would have provided a math teacher three days a week, an english teacher and a science teacher two days a week, and a social studies teacher one day a week for after school help for kids who need it,” said Swenson. Cutting the homework club cut an additional $12,000 from the budget. 

Around the ceiling of the David Strong Gymnasium at Masuk, banners hang showcasing the titles won by Masuk sports teams. “We have no more space to hang any more banners. So, we were going to go to a digital platform that would enable us to not only recognize our student athletes, it would also enable us to put all of the yearbooks going back to 1960, when Masuk first opened. We could upload them and we could have them there. We could [also] have all of our academic recognitions in there. So, it was a platform that was not just about athletics. It was also about something that the school could have utilized.” Said Swensen

 The online recognition platform was cut from the budget to save another $8,000. This, combined with cutting the homework club, only saves $20,000. 

Every school in the state of Connecticut is part of a classification called a DRG, standing for District Reference Groups. These groups are used to compare schools with similar socioeconomic statuses, student needs, and enrollment numbers. Monroe Public Schools is classified in DRG B, which consists of other towns such as Trumbull, Oxford, Darien, and Easton.

Monroe Public Schools originally proposed a 5.16% budget increase from this school year, which is lower than the average 5.52% increase for DRG B.  

A majority of this budget increase comes from staff salary increases for existing positions, as well as increases in health insurance cost, which are projected to increase 15% from this school year. Each of those increases total to 84% of the total budget increase from the 2026 budget. 

The remainder of the increases includes transportation cost increases, special education cost increases, as well as proposed new positions, including an assistant principal for Stepney Elementary School, a part time math skills teacher and a speech language pathologist.

These proposed positions are part of the proposed budget cuts, saving $191,997.

An additional $136,000 will be cut from IT and maintenance, which includes cutting a phone maintenance contract, toner phone repair, chromebooks, and maintenance summer help.

An additional $78,615 will be cut from curriculum and instruction. This cut includes $10,000 used for AAPPL testing, which allows students to earn the seal of biliteracy. “We could still [give the] AAPPL test. It just wouldn’t be free to the students, which is going to impact the number of kids that we test,” said Swenson.

Masuk is currently second in DRG B and 10th in the state of Connecticut for the number of students who graduate with the seal of biliteracy. “With this going away, I do not know if we are going to be able to maintain that level of success,” said Swenson.

The budget cuts will also cause larger class sizes across the entire school district, due to the removal of five to seven certified staff. In addition, a math teacher at Masuk will be retiring and not be replaced for next school year. To mitigate the effect of the loss of teachers at Masuk, a proposal has been made to move eighth grade into Masuk, and remove the STEM Academy. This will allow current eighth grade teachers to teach Masuk classes if necessary. 

The eighth grade will have their own lunch wave, similar to the current STEM Academy lunch wave, allowing the eighth grade to still participate in the National School Lunch Program, which provides free and reduced lunch to students based on income. Masuk High School is currently not eligible to participate in the program. 

This will make the schedule align with the schedule at Masuk for the first four periods on straight-eight days, and align with the first two periods on block days. The eighth graders will also ride the Masuk bus in the mornings and to go home. 

Masuk has also proposed cutting freshman sports next school year, which saves an additional $64,000. “It does not mean freshmen can not play athletics. It just means that freshmen only teams would go,”said Swenson.

Masuk parent Kristina Macphail shared her opinion on the proposed budget cuts. “My children will be directly affected. I have a child in seventh grade currently, who will be going into the eighth grade next year.  The larger class sizes will definitely impact all students,” Macphail said.

A potential side effect of increased class sizes is less one on one time students have with teachers. “It is concerning when scores go down, or when they do not go up. It has a lot to do with curriculum and focus,” said Macphail.“People do move here for the schools. We have great schools and great teachers. I don’t expect a huge difference, we are still [going to be] a great school.” 

Macphail disagrees with sending the eighth grade to Masuk, which has been voiced by other Monroe parents on social media.

“It’s not something I fully endorse.” Said Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Joseph Kobza, in response to moving the eighth grade to Masuk. “What it does help us do, though, is it does not necessarily help us save staff, but if [the budget] were cut at the levels that we are cut now, it does allow us to maximize the staff that we have… an eight to 12 school is not something that you see in this area.”

Kobza also acknowledged that larger class sizes could impact test scores, including the SAT, due to less time between the teacher and students.

Overall, the proposed $1.85 million budget cuts will have negative impacts on the Monroe Public Schools system.