Michelle O’Neil introduces herself at Candidates Night.
Nice to see Michelle come around on airing the budget meetings. She opposed airing the meetings at the March 27, 2008 meeting, voted against airing the meetings on April 9, 2009, and voted against airing the meetings again on February 4, 2010 (minutes not yet published). These votes are recorded in the minutes of the meetings.
Paul Shalek is running against Michelle — and for the rest of us.
If you look at the 2011 default budget compared to 2009’s actual spend, you may be surprised to find that while we were enduring furloughs, pay freezes, and layoffs, the school budget has increased 11%. If you add in the cost of the new teachers contract, it has increased 12%. A 12% increase in an era of deflation and cost cutting.
The bad news is that the 12% increase is completely contrived. First, consider the contract. The teachers union has negotiated a contract that includes a lump sum payment in the first year and double step increases in the second year. Mr. La Salle has used current headcount to calculate the cost. In reality, the long service teachers will retire after their lump so that that lump sum weights their pension. These teachers will be replaced with short service teachers who will reap the double step in the second year. The cost of the contract is likely to DOUBLE in the second year.
The second time bomb in the budget is the insurance line item. Every year we vote on the budget BEFORE the insurer sets the costs for the year. They provide a maximum ceiling and we budget to that. This is ALWAYS several percent higher than the actual cost. The difference is refunded to the taxpayers. This year the ceiling was 22%. Mr. La Salle got that maximum reduced to 13% to show a better number to the budget committee, but the maximum ceiling has no impact on actual cost. In reality, he just spent next year’s surplus.
Danville’s senior TRSD Budget Committee member read Mr. La Salle’s warrant article to the public Thursday. She went on to deliver Mr. La Salle’s pitch including an explanation that Mr. La Salle — not the budget committee — is responsible for preparing the budget and that School Board Policy — not New Hampshire State Law — governs the process. I disagree on all counts.
You should be outraged. Despite deflation, falling energy costs, declining enrollment, and a contracting tax base, Mr. La Salle has asked for a 2% increase in the budget PLUS a separate warrant to pay for raises negotiated in a new teachers contract. In an era of frozen wages, layoffs, and making do, Mr. La Salle has secured a 2% pay increase for SAU 55’s highest paid administrators.
If you think you can vote against this, you are wrong. Mr. La Salle’s default budget is HIGHER than his ‘approved’ budget. At the last budget committee meeting, there was a heated discussion of the legality of the default budget that ending with a red faced Mr. La Salle apologizing for his outburst. You can’t watch this because the TRSD Budget Committee refuses to televise its meetings. This is not detailed in the sanitized minutes.
If you think this is much ado about nothing, you are wrong. This isn’t just about taxes. Budget committees provide direction and set priorities. Our high school is underperforming. It has been designated a School In Need of Improvement for five consecutive years — despite ever increasing budgets.
The District’s presentations are the second part of the budget process. In the first part, school board members and budget committee members are invited to tour the schools. These tours highlight recent accomplishments and near term needs. This year, the near term needs were minor. Part two is the budget presentation. The presentation is given on two evenings, is shown on TEN (cable TV), and made available on DanvilleDelivery.com. Key members of the administration and staff present their wish lists for the coming budget. This year, the amount asked for was $2,184,000 (vs $2,019,000 last year). This represents an increase of 8%. I think Mr. La Salle opened by noting that CPI was -3.5%, enrollment was down and projecting lower, and insurance and energy costs were lower than expected. If that is true, they are asking for double digit increases and reappropriated a significant amount of money. As I said, this is only part two. Once the second presentation is complete, the District will come to the Budget Committee with at least three pared down budgets. I expect the final budget will be flat or a little down.
Here are the slides from the two presentations…
Here are the recordings of the sessions…
2010 Budget Presentation Part I: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download 2010 Budget Presentation Part II: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadUpdate: Video Added This is just a quick commentary. Yesterday, the web site was unusually busy, so I guess people are wondering what I thought of the presentation and I wanted to post something besides the naked presentation.
(more…)
Thursday March 19, 2009 I’ll be attending a ‘meet and greet’ for new members of the TRSD school board and budget committee. Newly elected members of both bodies, having been notified by telephone, will take their oaths and begin their terms. I’m looking forward to this. There was no ‘meet and greet’ last year. I received an email less than 48 hours from the deadline inviting me to sign my oath. I had known that I was elected. This information had been posted on a local bulletin board and I had received an email from an employee of the SAU alerting me to the fact that counsel had been engaged to deny me the seat. I did not plan to take the seat, but my kids and the other Danville rep to the TRSD budget committee persuaded me.
My first night as a BudCom rep was pleasant, but I was not successful in convincing the other members that it was a good idea to televise meetings. My second night (third meeting) was less cordial. During this meeting — which I refer to as Little Bighorn — I was assailed for 33 minutes. Members demanded that I take down this site for the duration of my service and inflicted rules on me that are not observed by other members.
I volunteered to serve as an alternate representative to the Curriculum and Assessment Committee. I only attended two meetings. The first was held at a country club and was, primarily, a social event. The last order of business was to have future meetings at the country club. After I posted my view of the meeting, it was decided that it would be better to meet at the SAU building. I was assailed for this posting at the next — my last — meeting of the Curriculum and Assessment Committee.
When the BudCom reconvened in September, the tone was a little different. I wasn’t an island. Others were supporting taxpayer positions, voicing parental concerns. Members who supported the SAU 100% became frustrated. Some stopped attending meetings.
By the end of 2008, members were open to the idea of ammending the bylaws to restore the constitutional authority of the TRSD Budget Committee.
Is this change? Is it good? I think so. Charlie Balanoff, our chair, has taken a leadership position on spending and expectations. Michael Mascola, our rep to the school board, is equally vocal in his expectations of the SAU. Michelle O’Neil joins us in demanding change. I expect the TRSD Budget Committee to lead the district in applying resources to improving the education of or children. You should too!
One of the objectives of my three year term as a Danville representative to the TRSD Budget Committee is to understand, document, and share the experience so that others can gauge their interest in and aptitude for the position. The best way to do this would be to have the meetings televised. I proposed that in my very first meeting, but there was no support for televising the meetings (in the end, we agreed to televise the budget presentations — which the School Board televises anyway). This area of DanvilleDelivery.com is the best I can do. I’ve posted minutes, the handbook, and pertinent statutes. I’ve also blogged about meetings of interest. I did not blog about the process during the year. I wanted to take the whole thing in before reporting. I’ve taken it all in, and this is how it looks to me…
A piece of it, anyway. The session was a rubber stamping of the warrants with the exception of Warrant Atricle 3 — the Sandown Schools Consolidation Project. When this article reached the floor, Sandown residents initiated a spirited debate that ended in a vote to amend the warrant that failed 34 to 29. The members of the School Board and Budget Committee voted 11 to 1 against the amendment. Sentiment among nonmembers ran 54% to 46% in favor of the amendment which simply removed funding for permits until after studies were complete and the district approved construction.
Enjoy the clip and be sure to vote against the proposed budget and warrants in March!
The Timberlane Strategic Planning Committee has released a draft of their Plan for 2009 – 2014 and they are not planning to educate our kids. Read the draft and post your comments to their survey. There are no plans to spend more time teaching, no plans to remove televisions from the classroom, no plans to assure teachers are teaching the right things, and no plans to ensure they teach well. Instead, they propose we…
Loading ... Loading ...
Concerned parent of two children in the TRSD school system who pays taxes and is not employed by -- or contracted to -- the town or the SAU...one of the Rest of Us
