Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter
A group of concerned parents are sounding the alarm about Superintendent Dr. Alan Addley's proposed budget cuts to Darien Public Schools' gifted program.
"After receiving a salary increase to $329,584 annually (plus an additional $15,000 of which a portion can be used for a retirement plan) in August, Darien Superintendent Dr. Alan Addley is now proposing material cuts in his 2025-2026 budget. This includes the elimination of Darien Public Schools' gifted program -- IDEA," warned Darien Parents on their blog. "Other reductions include cutting all elementary school instructional aides (15 in total) and a school nurse."
"The idea of eliminating the gifted program in our schools is not new," said Darien Parents. "Our readers will recall that in May 2023, Dr. Addley's administration seriously considered cutting IDEA in the draft report of the District's DEI Team Report due to the lack of African American student diversity within the program. While this proposal was ultimately not included in the final report, other area schools have dropped Gifted and Talented Programs in their schools because they allegedly exacerbate racial divides."
"With his salary over 7x greater than Connecticut's median individual income of $44,377 (2022), is Dr. Addley's proposal to eliminate IDEA one driven by fiscal austerity or part of his Administration's broader, ongoing quest for greater Equity in our schools?" wondered the concerned Parents who noted that IDEA's $469,000 allocation represents a mere ~0.37% of Dr. Addley's proposed budget of $125,125,964.
