At last night's school board meeting, the board passed a Budget Advisory Committee 7-2 (Ms. Rief and Ms. Portalupi opposing).
A "job description" for the volunteers will be finalized in the upcoming week and a letter will be sent to the selectmen and councilmen of each town to solicit volunteers for the committee. The committee will be made up solely of community members.
Big surprise that Joann and Jennifer didn't support it! Jennifer...your constant waffling on topics over the years is annoying. You have turned your back on voters just like Townsend did. You just did it longer without quitting so you get a few more points I guess.
ReplyDeleteHowever, after 3 years on this board, your last year is marred in going against the platform you ran on and supporting status quo. I remember it was YOU who supported a similar committee and couldn't get it off the ground. You also lied about the support during the budget committee when the tri-town council made its presentation two years ago. So, Jennifer, why not support it? What can be so AWEFUL about finding out more info in a budget that no one seems to grasp? I doubt you'll post any reply. You probably read this but don't have the backbone to reply just like on the board when you let Joann/Howard railroad your previously great ideas.
Joann...well done! You have yet again turned the blind eye and at least you're consistent. Let's support an administration blindly, not ask any questions, and extend the public mistrust. Wow!
Can't wait until March when this board really heats up!
I watched the latest meeting and a little wide-eyed that Howard Colter plans on talking with Newmarket about potentially having their students attend our high school. Given the latest Roger Spediel statistics (thank you Roger!), I think that we need to fill the school with more students. If our district wants to save teacher jobs, this needs to be done immediately. I liked the newcomer, Jim, and thought he provided great input. I liked his idea about looking into out sourcing transportation. I thought Colter could have kept the drama out of his reply by insinuating that it might make everyone nervous. Are we supposed to keep paying ridiculous taxes because Colter doesn't want to upset people about potentially losing their jobs? He needs to do his job and either fill up the building with tuition students or let some of our staff go. It is unfair to tax payers. I am beginning to feel like our tax bill is a forced donation to the Oyster River School District! We need to make cuts that mirror changes within our governmental agencies and changes that are more in line with our economic times.
ReplyDeleteShame on Joanne Portalupi and Jennifer Rief for voting against the budget committee. They continue to demonstrate that their only concern is pleasing Colter and not the stakeholders that nominated them into their positions. Thank you to everyone else that voted for the budget advisory committee! It is reassuring that we have a majority thinking with fiscal responsibility.
I also watched the replay and was very confused. Ms. Rief, when first elected, was a strong supporter of a budget committee. I believe there must be a reason for her change of heart, but have not been able to view a valid reasoning. Our public officials all dedicate hours away from family and I dare all to hold their critiques closely. I too remember when the first committee looking into budget committees presented the finding that a committee was not needed. However, I then remember Mr. Richard Kelly stating that not all who paricipated (many without a vote) agreeed. At the time Ms. Rief was an advocate of such a committee. I find it curious that the two senior members see no need for an advisory committee to provide input to the budget process. I wish they would provide more valid input as to why. However, now that this has passed I hope we all support this idea and see the value in such a formation.
ReplyDeleteOur Education administrators are not acting as selfless public servants, they are sucking up our tax dollars from our financially strapped local tax base. I agree with the above person that complained about having two directors of curriculum and instruction. Without a doubt, Colter’s spending on education has been the single most serious burden on our local budget. We can all sleep a little better knowing that he will have a budget advisory committee to monitor wasteful spending and perhaps make some recommendations for making cuts where necessary. I believe we can provide the same quality of education while significantly reducing our fiscal burden.
ReplyDeleteOur budget advisory committee will no doubt provide fiscally sound advice to administration, and, although it is unlikely that we would benefit this coming budget year given the amount of time it will take to get things moving forward, at least it is a start. Virtually every big company in America has been hit hard in the current economy and the demands for worker productivity have increased. Most Americans are working harder, earning less and grateful to have jobs. As a taxpayer, I will not be satisfied unless our budget is reduced significantly. The school board and Colter may think they have all done a wonderful job if they do not give us an increase however; it is not good enough to maintain a budget that includes unnecessary spending. If Bow has a 20 to 1 student/teacher ratio, we should explore why we have a 10 to 1 student/teacher ratio. We are comparable districts and not doing any better in terms of academic success. I think it would be wise to study what other school districts have for ratios.
I question the leadership abilities of our current administration. The budget advisory committee must look into such issues as student teacher ratio, the cost of the administrative reorganization (Do we need two directors’ of instruction).
Special education litigation - We have all read the newspaper articles on the Brady case and I think we all agree that there are better things to do with our money than paying lawyers — such as educating kids. Our administration has not responded to public inquiries regarding their actions. I suppose they will assert it is a confidential matter however; taxpayer’s are not left with the feeling that our hard earned money will continue to be spent to litigate matters that a reasonable administration would not pursue.
Transportation and food outsourcing- How much would we save?
Medicaid- Is our district collecting money from the State to pay for services? Let’s survey our special education families and figure this out.
The administrations dishonest accounting practices have left many taxpayers skeptical of their ability to manage our money. Taxpayer money should never be wasted at any time, especially in the middle of a recession. Our district should consider a forensic audit. Blaine Cox left despite having time left on his contract and I am curious to know if there is more going on than what was conveyed to us related to the ‘serious deficiencies,’ in our most recent audit statement .
Curious as to why no one seems to be concerned that this thing passed with a 5-2 vote and is now a mere shadow of the original intention?
ReplyDeleteCurious as to why we have not heard more on this.
Wondering to what this will actually do.
No one seems to be paying attention and the board seems to be loving that fact.
No one seems to be concerned that this budget committee has been formed with so many constraints.
No one seems to care that they announced a 2 million dollar surplus yet serious cuts have been made.
I will too, put my head back in the sand.