Everything You Need To Know This Week

1. The weather for the week, which should be nice: Today through Thursday, it should be sunny with highs in the mid- to high-40s, according to the National Weather Service. Friday, there is a chance of rain, but Saturday is should be nice again, and again have a high in the mid-40s, according to the service.

2. This week in school news: The most important piece of news will come on Tuesday, when the board of education meets to decide how to balance the budget. As you probably know, the teachers union rejected a wage freeze, as did the secretaries union, and another three unions are expected to reject freezes as well (the administrators union accepted the freeze). That means the board of education now has to deal with $1.2 million in extra expenses in the budget, meaning 15 to 20 layoffs, according to Superintendent Jerome Belair. The question Tuesday will be where the layoffs will come from or what programs to cut. Citizens are encouraged to go to the meeting and have their voices heard.

3. In more routine school news, by school:

Waterford High School: CAPT tests are first thing in the morning Wednesday and Thursday. All students interested in trying out for the baseball team must submit their forms to Coach by Friday; tryouts start next Monday.

Clark Lane Middle School: Connecticut Mastery Tests run Tuesday through Thursday, with Monday reserved for all make-up exams. From 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, the PTO has its basket bonanza, where baskets are sold at the school.

Elementary Schools: Monday, there is an assembly for students featuring Adam Battelstein and the LocoMotion dance at Great Neck School. Other than that, it is a fairly typical week.

4. This week in government: The board of finance continues its very lengthy (painfully lengthy) budget reviews on Monday and Wednesday. Wednesday will be the big one, with the fire commission and all five fire companies up. Word is these meetings last past 2 a.m., so that should be fun. Also the planning and zoning commission meets Monday at 7 p.m. to review an application for a in Waterford at 372 Boston Post Road (formerly Fire and Ice). That application could be approved Monday.

5. The week that was, and really a huge week in town news: First off, my heart really goes out to the Klorczyk family, who suffered a . Honestly, one of the most tragic stories I have ever heard, and I hope the community supports them. It puts everything else going on in town into perspective.

That said, there was some big news this week. On Monday, the teachers union refused a , meaning the board of education will have to lay off 15 to 20 people, according to Belair. Along those lines, the board of finance first requested a ; then got . Patch investigated ; the first selectman took on board of finance member J.W. “Bill” Sheehan in a and Mr. Blue Thumb presented a video on how to get

Quote of the Week

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

-Frederick Keonig

Trivia of the Day

A series of four questions that all build off of each other. I’ll give you the answers to the first three; you have to answer the last one.

Q: How do you get an elephant in the refrigerator?

A: You take everything out and put the elephant in.

Q: How do you get a tiger in the refrigerator?

A: You take out the elephant and put the tiger in.

Q: All the animals in the animal kingdom meet for an all-hands animal meeting besides one. Which one didn’t show up?

A: The tiger. He was stuck in the refrigerator.

Final question, the one you have to answer: How do you cross the crocodile-infested river?

Friday’s Answer: Robert Yuchniuk is the current Waterford-East Lyme Animal Control officer.