Posted with permission:
2/7/11
Dear Members of the School Board:
I write with the greatest appreciation for the dedicated service and long hours of hard work you all have put into overseeing our schools and especially in preparing the budget that comes before the town in March.
Nevertheless, I must state my concern about the budget as it stands. The report of the Advisory Budget Committee identifies extremely serious defects in the Board's budget preparation process and a disturbing lack of clarity and transparency in the resulting budget. The Board's tepid reaction to the recommendations of the ABC does not inspire confidence in the Board's management of this crucial community function, the education of our children.
I know it is a difficult task, reconciling the expectations of the people of Durham, Lee, and Madbury for an excellent school system with the competing demands of all those involved in our schools, especially at a time of exceptional economic stress. But the budget fails to respond effectively with clarity and purpose to the needs of our community. I can not support the Board's budget in its present form; I will vote against it on March 8.
Whatever the outcome of that vote, I would urge the Board to undertake a careful process of self-examination, using the recommendations of the Advisory Budget Committee as a blueprint for a strong, responsive School Board of the future.
Respectfully,
Phil Ginsburg (Durham)
My understanding is that if the proposed budget is voted down, the default budget is automatically adopted. The default budget is HIGHER than the propsed budget.
ReplyDeleteI really am disappointed at the further discord the ABC has caused. They were asked to provide some information to help the board. It is inappropriate for them as a committee to vote on the budget and to have that vote posted in a place like this. By doing this, they are stepping outside of their authority and their mission. They were formed to SUPPORT and help the board. It is one thing to provide recommendations, it is another to appeal to the community.
The default budget is actually $200,000 lower than the proposed budget. We are hopeful that the community develops a greater understanding of the budget and process so they are informed when they vote. We are not appealing to the community to vote in any certain way. We are simply expressing our views on the proposed budget. We are happy to discuss your concerns further. Please email us at abc@sau5.org.
ReplyDeleteAnd please include your name when posting. It adds more credibility.
David Proulx
I totally agree that it is inappropriate for the Advisory Budget Committee to vote and post information. The School Board was elected to vote and make decisions on the recommendations. The Advisory Budget Committee is totally out of line.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the ABC ought to replace the school board then? Why the uproar when all their 'vote' does is show the community a visual type of concensus about how the ABC regards the budget. It is clear by seeing a 5 to 2 vote that the vast majority of the ABC does not agree with the
ReplyDeleteschool board.
I think if the vote of the ABC was 2 to 5 for it, the attitude would be different.
5 to 2 for it.....sorry not clear in my previous post.
ReplyDeleteAn Advisory Committee not have the right to vote?
ReplyDeleteThis committee is made up of professionals volunteering their time for our district. While I do not agree with many of their recommendations the belief that they do not have the right to vote on a recommendation is absurd.
They are not out of line, they are in line with what most working advisory committees nationwide do.
The advisory committee is just that advisory. We did not vote them into any office. This committee spent a couple of months on this. We have school board members that have given thier time for years ,not to mention our teachers and administers. I will take my advice from them thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe committee was helpful informing us and I do thank them for the work they did.While watching the last several budget meeting I felt that they were given to much athourity. I prefer to see the committee provide a report and then allow the board and our administrator to have the final word. THe public can then have thier say if they disagree.
I feel compelled to provide a few facts in response to the misinformation above:
ReplyDelete--The ABC has met many times, sometimes several times a week, since its initial meeting on 10/26. That's more than "a couple of months" and represents far more hours of intense study of the budget than the School Board has time for, given the myriad other responsibilities they face.
--Some Board members have served for years, but that hardly makes them experts on budgeting and finance. All of the members of the ABC, on the other hand, are--that was a prerequisite for joining the Committee.
--A major part of school administrators' job is to produce a comprehensive, readable budget so that voters may make informed decisions on how their tax money should be spent. While great strides have been made in that direction this year, this budget still falls short of the mark. In this sense the ABC is only pointing out the obvious.
--Neither administrators nor teachers have any special claim to be able to give voters "advice." It would be a clear conflict of interest for them to insert themselves into District politics.
Lastly, an observation: in my experience, those who complain the most loudly about "process" are usually dissatisfied with results, but are unable or unwilling to state their case based on the facts.
From the time the Advisory Budget Committee was formed, we posted information publicly--through this blog (at least 6 different times), to PTO's and to the 3 Towns. Among our top priorities are communication and transparency. We have our own link on the ORCSD webpage and our own email for direct contact with all members of the committee. As members of ABC and members of the public, we will continue to speak freely to the community. (Ah, the beauty of free speech!)
ReplyDeleteI am proud that we are accessible and quickly respond to e-mails or questions on this blog. We have nothing to hide and so we try to be pro-active and responsive. Dave Proulx was nominated as our communications point-person and he does an amazing job. In sum, we are open and willing to engage the public. We welcome the comments and even the critiques. Feedback gives us the opportunity to do better and understand alternate points of view (a lesson I am really learning in Concord!)
Having just returned from a vacation in Egypt this January, I am so humbled and appreciative of the opportunity to express my opinion and openly disagree with others in myriad forums. In fact, I openly disagreed with a number of items at the deliberative session this evening. For me, I see these acts of civil discourse as positive, not negative. We agree to disagree and then go have a beer. Cheers!
--Jenna
From my armchair, the ABC did voice their opinion in providing a recommendation. That is where their involvement should have stopped. The 5-2 vote they took is irresponsible and should NOT have been made public. They overstepped their bounds and look at the problems they have made.
ReplyDeletethe biggest fault of the ABC: there are no educators on the committee. Please consider this a request that the next ABC include a teacher (doesn't necessarily have to be an OR teacher) but someone who cares deeply about the learning being done in the classrooms.
ReplyDeleteHow has the ABC created problems? You probably did not like what we had to say and that is why you have an issue. I can say we worked hard to understand the budget and financial processes which leave much to be desired. I would also welcome an educator on our committee but please know that we care deeply abou the the learning done in the classroom. I have three kids in ORCSD and 4 others on the committee also do. Please take time to learn about us and what we do so there can be a productive discussion.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
David Proulx - ABC member
get off your armchair and stop complaining.
ReplyDelete