#Bridgeport CT– Students, parents, and teachers from Central High School marched to  Margaret E. Morton Government Center at 999 Broad Street, to the office of Mayor Joe Ganim is located.  They went to protest Mayor Ganim on the lack of funding to the schools and what they considered disrespect to the superintendent of the school system.  The protest was very peaceful and respectful.  The marchers felt the funding issue should have been resolved directly through the superintendent, not through the Office of Policy Management.  Bridgeport school systems are slated to run out of funds due to nonpayment from the State of Connecticut due to a lack of a budget.  Superintendent Aresta Johnson told me that the state has assured the city that the funding will be made on Monday.  She told me she is confident and not worried of the assurance the state has made.

Many of the students were seniors slated to graduate this year.  Many of them have college to attend or scholarships and a disruption of graduation time can affect those plans.  Many were saying the march/protest was spontaneous but the professionally printed signs suggest otherwise.  The mayor was attending the ribbon cutting of Autoclave in the south end of the city when the students arrived at the mayor’s office.  The crowd wanted to enter City Hall Annex were first turned away but then were allowed a handful of students to enter to make an appointment with the mayor.  The students were satisfied and walked back to school which was 2.3 miles or 47-minute walk according to Google Maps.  One of the school resource officers was recommending the students get an A for gym class this week.

This afternoon, Governor Malloy vetoed the bipartisan passed budget so the state will continue running without a budget.