The Oyster River Cooperative School District unofficial March 9, 2010 election results are as follows:
Moderator (vote for not more than one)
Richard Laughton - 1378
School Board At-Large (vote for not more than two)
David Taylor - 605
Krista Butts - 1064
Ann Wright - 1249
Write Ins - 5
Article 3 - Shall the District Ratify the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Oyster River Educational Support Personnel Association and the Oyster River Cooperative School District?
Yes - 1022
No - 665
Article 4 - Shall the District raise and appropriate $253,000 for capital improvements to include, but not limited to, heating controls, fire alarm and sprinkler systems, electrical upgrades, and security cameras?
Yes - 1095
No - 607
Article 5 - Shall the District raise and appropriate $95,000 for technology improvement and upgrade items to include but not limited to data cabling at the SAU and telephone system replacement?
Yes - 831
No - 847
Article 6 - Shall the District raise and appropriate up to $50,000 to be added to the expendable trust fund known as the Special Education Fund, with such amount to be funded from year-end undesignated fund balance surplus?
Yes - 987
No - 677
Article 7 - Shall the District raise and appropriate an operating budget, etc.
Yes - 994
No - 686
Total votes cast: 1767
I agree with an early blogger...
ReplyDelete"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead.
The Tribe has spoken.
The tribe? I think more a lynch mob
ReplyDeleteThank you to all who voted yesterday! I have huge hopes for the new Board. May they be strong in conviction and direct our Central Office Administration to improve communication, educational offerings, accountability, and transparency.
ReplyDeleteLynch mob?? Wow. You clearly don't "get" that we are a majority and we want a team for a Board. Look up "Democracy" on Dictionary.com. It is an interesting read. We are not interested in one bully arrogantly telling everyone else what to think. I am grateful to have a majority of Board members who can think independently and aren't afraid to speak. I won't agree with everything that they say, but I am finally confident that they will listen to people who have differing opinions. The day of the Oyster River Stepford Board has passed.
ReplyDelete"Vocal minority"??? I think not.
ReplyDeleteI think this election has shown that the majority shift has taken place and people like Taylor and the superintendent are not tolerated anymore. There are people on this board now that are for change and more open communication. The people on this board have no obstructionist anymore with a policy handbook that is not shared. The people on this board can FINALLY hold others accountable without filibustering by "senior" members.
ReplyDeleteI am proud of our community this morning and also proud of the members who started this blog. It helped me as a voter cut through the fat of the campaign and get some real facts about the candidates. When the Taylor supporters defamed a PRESCHOOLERS group, that was my deciding factor! Com'n...it was a preschoolers and parents group...how low can his camp go? I guess that was it!
Is there a chance that we could get a new superintendent too?
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting these results. This is a clear message and good news.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the Ann Wright and Krista Butts supporters for taking the high road in the mud slinging on the blogs. Getting nasty often backfires, as we saw demonstrated yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Bono, "It's a beautiful day."
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous #2, above: to compare last night's election results to a lynching shows that you are incredibly ignorant of the actual meaning and connotations of the word.
ReplyDeleteA lynching is an extrajudicial punishment carried out by a mob, usually by hanging, as a form of intimidation and control.
Contrast that with our elections: 1767 of your neighbors, after a (mostly) civil and rational debate, turned out and voted peacefully, without even the threat of violence.
We are all fortunate indeed to live in a time and place where a change in government is not accomplished by violence. I dare say that the majority of people on earth today do not enjoy that right.
I can only assume you are irrationaly worked up because your favored candidate lost, but please, tone down the rhetoric--there are no bodies hanging from trees along Main Street this morning.
Instead, our system of government worked as it should: the people have spoken, and new faces are officially in charge. If you don't like the result I'd encourage you to get involved, come to School Board meetings, bring your own ideas, and consider running for the School Board next year.
In the meantime, please take a page from Mr. Taylor's playbook, and try to act graciously even in defeat.
So what is the significance of a TIP being defeated twice -- once by one vote, the second time by 16 votes?
ReplyDeleteThat tells me that this community is bitterly divided between those who support education and the necessary support that comes with educating our children and those who don't care about the schools because they don't have children in the schools and just want their tax bills cut.
There is no mandate here. Just division (as evidenced by the comments here)
Durham Parent should be ashamed of this post.
I kind of support the previous poster. What kind of a "wake up call" is a micro-thin vote margin?
ReplyDeleteIf anything, the board failed to convince the voters of the need for the items in the TIP.
Here again is the attitude that you either support everything the district asks for or you "don't care about the schools." After 10 years in this district I find this attitude offensive and delusional.
ReplyDeleteThe TIP was voted down by those who want funds spent on direct impact to kids. The board did fail to convince voters.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lack of answers to important questions by a member of the board that is in the field. That combined with the knowledge that we do not need more technology, we need basic supplies and professional development.
Thank you for presenting this message by voting down more things we don't need.
Article 5 was the only one that did not pass. It was also the only one with a close vote. Barbara Tarvainen is right. For years the political line here has been that we must support it all, or we are supporting nothing. Why do you think they break it out into articles? This gives the Board the opportunity to "sell" the articles. Unfortunately, they did not adequately do this. And recheck the numbers... "micro-thin vote margin"?? Only on Article 5.
ReplyDeleteAnd I Teach, you are absolutely right. In this tight financial time, we want funds to be spent in areas that will directly impact the kids. I honestly don't care what kind of wiring the central office has. But I totally want to give the teachers what they need to do their jobs.
So I assume that you don't mind that some phones in the Oyster River Middle School don't have access to 911 service.
ReplyDeleteI only add this comment to reassert the notion that the board failed to properly "sell" the importance of this to the public. And no folks, there is no mandate with this vote.
BTW, the TIP is always closer in its margin than all other warrant articles. Even the bond to build the HS was close - all 8 times they tried.
Maybe next year the Board and the community members who have this sort of information can do a better job of explaining the importance of the TIP. You don't have to be on the Board to share important information about why the TIP needs to pass. The Board can't do it alone.
ReplyDeleteSome people in this community don't seem to acknowledge or understand that a lot of people are suffering because of the economy. I am actually surprised that all of the articles passed. People are having to make choices in their own homes and I think they simply couldn't support everything in their voting. I think that they did pretty well in supporting everything else.
And don't hassle me about this... I voted for all of the articles.
For what it is worth, I don't believe that anyone has a definitive answer as to why the TIP didn't pass. In the absence of polling or focus groups, nobody has any real data on which to base their assertions.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, my view is that the TIP has not passed for two years in a row due to a lack of trust in our administrators. Simply put, a majority of citizens do not trust them to spend our money wisely. Not without cause, of course.
Those who are long-time followers of this blog are familiar with the great bidding controversy of '08, but for newcomers, I will recap: our school administrators did not follow District policy in awarding a contract for computer networking equipment to a favored bidder...someone who just happened to be a former employee of the District. The solution offered by the favored bidder was demonstrably inferior, and cost $74,000 more, yet the District chose his bid instead. Why? Because our District does not have a rigorous bid-scoring process.
This is but one story. If you ask nearly anyone familiar with the business affairs of this District you will hear many others much like it. Some, like this one, are true (and you can see the documentation backing that assertion elsewhere on this blog and judge for yourself). Others may be mere anecdote, but all of them are evidence of the District's failure to engage honestly and forthrightly with the citizens of the three towns.
As a parent of young children, I worry that the our administrators' actions (and the subsequent reactions of some elected officials) are gradually undermining citizens' support of the District. Not that I blame the citizens themselves--after all, trust is earned, not given--but I do blame our school administrators and our elected officials for failing to conduct themselves in a manner which inspires trust, rather than mistrust.
With one child in kindergarten and another several years away from entering the school system, I have a great deal at stake. I believe we are at an inflection point in the history of our District: either we begin the difficult process of restoring trust and accountability now, or we risk provoking a backlash that could ultimately end in the breakup of the cooperative.
I hope that the election of two new Board members marks a turning point, and that now the Board can begin make the changes that need to be made in order to restore the kind of transparency and accountability that are the necessary building blocks of trust.
I also hope that those who read and comment on this blog will remain as ongoing, active participants in the affairs of this District even after the election: please, attend School Board meetings, praise what you see as good, and protest the not-so-good as you see fit. The Board needs your input, even if they don't always welcome it.
I completely agree that the TIP failed b/c of lack of trust in our administration. I voted this and the other article down because of the wording it included..."to include, but not limited to...". Given the track record of unaccountable spending practices (for those who have been following for some time will recall, for those who are new, should try to get up to speed as best you can). Based on that wording, the children have no guarantee that the money voted for in a warrant article will actually be put toward that article. And I certainly don't trust the disscretion of the administration. I have faith the new board will oust Colter when his time is up. He needs to go and we need a leader in our district who isn't coasting toward retirement. That's as bad a tenure!
ReplyDeleteRepost from Anonymous poster...
ReplyDeleteThe voters said no to a huge spending proposal - of which was a small amount towards new, needed servers. This was a MUCH NEEDED piece of equipment which allows students, staff, administrators and teachers to hold information that is needed on a regular basis. How many times can the tech people for the district ask students to dump their saved class work, homework and other materials to create space on the network? Now, with the State of New Hampshire requiring all kinds of digital info (read: pictures, video, music, etc -- in other words, space hogs on a server) to house the information needed to fulfill the requirements of their digital portfolio, something had to be done.
YOu are all talking nonsense. Wake up, be educated on what you are talking about and then make rational comments. This isn't about spending money foolishly. It is about making a required purchase for our students. IT IS SOMETHING EVERY STUDENT USES EVERY DAY. In order to use a computer anywhere in any school, they need to log onto the district's network - and the new servers.
Nobody argues that the District shouldn't be spending money, we just want some assurance it's being spent well.
ReplyDeleteSteering a contract to a former employee of the District so he gets a fat commission on the sale, when better and cheaper options were available is a good example of what NOT to do.
Now can somebody tell me why the District bought a brand new Chevy Silverado last year? Is that something our students use every day?