http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110303/THISJUSTIN/703039935
Published March 3, 2011 in the Rutland Herald
Official tally now is nine votes
SPRINGFIELD — The official margin of victory for the $26.1 million Springfield school budget shrunk by one vote to nine votes, Town Clerk Meredith Dexter Kelley said Wednesday.
The final tally was 799-790.
Kelley said that the additional “no” vote came when election night voters reviewed the ballots and determined one voter meant to vote against the budget, when the town’s scanning machines didn’t originally interpret it that way.
On Tuesday night, Kelley said the unofficial margin of victory for the school budget was 10 votes, but cautioned that the official tally was in process.
Kelley said another town issue also lost one vote — and shrunk the margin of defeat to nine votes. That issue dealt with property tax breaks for businesses or individuals who have net-metering power projects.
The town clerk said that voters have 10 days to ask for a recount on the results, according to state statute. She said that any voter may request a recount, as long as the margin of decision is less than 5 percent of the total votes cast.
What a shame! I hope the residents enjoy their property taxes going up again. Maybe with any luck as I read the other posts from previous articles, if they are lucky the state will step in and get the schools running properly.
ReplyDeleteWhat the budget passing so close indicates is, residents no longer believe in this school district and its choices. The board didn't publish the NECAP results which were incredibly bad AGAIN! I encourage any resident to look the scores up on the Department of Education website and do a comparison of years past.For over three years the district has been listed as "schools in need of improvement" The district scores have declined and throwing good money after bad is not going to improve the school system until the staffing and administrative staff are removed and replaced with more competant individuals. Education is a business and should be run like one.If your teachers cannot perform and the students are not passing then the system is broken and all the excuses in the world about the students economic background being the cause are just that-excuses
ReplyDeleteTO ALL THE FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN IN THE SPRINGFIELD SCHOOLS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SCHOOL BOARD AND ASK THAT THEY ADOPT A TUITION CONTRACT PROGRAM SO YOU CAN SEND YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF DISTRICT IF DESIRED AND OFFSET TUITION COSTS. OTHER TOWNS HAVE DONE THIS WITH GREAT SUCCESS.
ReplyDeleteMiddle School Parents: Here is a viable option
ReplyDeletehttp://www.compass-school.org/about
TO THE PUBLIC: Notices from Springfield School District went out today to parents, of a scheduled restructuring meeting surrounding No Child left Behind mandates for failing schools. Because of such, the District is required to submit a "draft" by March 15, 2011 of the proposed changes to improve our schools. The final restructuring plan is due March 31,2011.
ReplyDeletePlease note that the School Board has an obligation to the taxpayers to full disclosure of this restructuring plan to be made public in its entirety. Included would be the need for a time period for the public to address any issues and comments before the board submits these plans. To date this has not been done and as taxpayers you are being denied due process by the lack of full disclosure. Please voice these concerns to the State Department of Education and each member of Springfield School Board.
Remember that the District is obligated to allow a period of public comment and input on this issue. Let us not forget they just asked us for 26 million. As a taxpayer demand your rights to FULL DISCLOSURE
Look, the educational success of the students mirrors the educational attainment of their parents. This is generally the case everywhere. Springfield has a population with much lower percentages of adults having bachelor and graduate degrees than the rest of the country. The school system reflects this. And yes, throwing money at it will not solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteSpringfield needs to find a way to become an attractive place to live. This means not being only a haven for every conceivable social service organization in Vermont, but a place where some businesses want to locate, and subsequently people want to visit and spend some money, maybe be attracted to what the community has to offer, and maybe, maybe even move here. Otherwise, the downward spiral will continue.
I strongly disagree with your generalized statements.You stated "the educational success of the students mirrors the educational attainment of their parents." and "Springfield has a population with much lower percentages of adults having bachelor and graduate degrees than the rest of the country. The school system reflects this"
ReplyDeleteThat type of attitude is a huge factor in WHY the schools cannot achieve success. Playing the blame game and shifting the blame are irresponsible. Success is only possible with strong and innovative administration, management and guidance. That is the model for any successful business model and that carries over to education management also. I invite you to read the following articles:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/05/24/33seltzer.h29.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THg8E0T7Xek
http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2011/02/25/20110225gilbert-district-schools-beat-odds-raise-aims-scores.html
http://www.learningfirst.org/roundup-new-public-school-success-stories
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/657589189/underdogs-the-story-of-a-successful-public-school-0
http://www.mcrel.org/pdf/schoolimprovementreform/5051RR_BeatTheOdds.pdf
Until the school administration, teaching staff and district staff embrace these types of innovative change. The school system will always fail. But to blame it on economics or educational levels of students families is reprehensible and irrresponsible. To make a blanket statement that because a childs parents have no education therefore they wont learn and are destined to fail is nonsense and speaks volumes about the education of the person making such a ridiculous comment. An education system will only get out of a student what they put into them.
I recieved a newletter today from Riverside Middle School stating that the "NECAP" scores were failing again, this has happened 5 times in the past requiring the state to step in and do some restructuring! I have a son that goes to RMS that is in 7th grade that posted something on facebook the other day and the grammar was so bad, not to mention the spelling. When I called him out on it and said no more facebook he said his teacher gave him an A with the same spelling. I didnt believe him until he produced the short story he compiled with the big old A on top with over 20 misspellings. Excuse me? Where is the accountability? Or can the teacher not spell either?
ReplyDeleteI say if the restructuring happens it needs to start with the top and work ALL the way down to the teacher helpers. When I went to Springfield we didnt have teacher aides and we had bigger class sizes. I think I did ok for myself, I went to college, did 8 years in the military and have a full time job and own a house in Springfield.
What is interesting is that I posted a response to the comment 2 above this one. Apparently my ability to respond intelligently and accurately allowing for solid, defendable yet respectful dialogue must really throw someone into a tailspin. Whomever the Blog moderator is they have removed my post. I might remind them this is now a public domain and it allows for freedom of speach (read your terms of service) I might also remind them that the material they have posted as stories all fall under copyright terms of service. If you do not like your responses and are afraid of the public opinion then you should pull your blog. LOL
ReplyDeleteSorry, last Anonymous, the automatic spam filter removed your previous comment without human consent. Probably because it contained several web links. Fortunately, it was moved to a spam inbox instead of being deleted outright and now it has been restored to the right position in the list of comments.
ReplyDeleteTo the person who so vehemently objected to my post---
ReplyDeleteNot playing any blame game, just stating statistics. Children of lower socioeconomic and educational backgrounds tend to perform at lower levels. That's a fact. (Locally, compare Hanover,NH to Springfield,VT) So that has to be a factor with the Springfield 'school
problems' as much as the purported poor administration, teachers, and implementation. Maybe not very politically correct to say, but that does not mean I am a 'reprehensible and irresponsible person' for saying it. I am not a parent so I have no children in the school district. But I do know unless you want to take everything into consideration you are always going to face an uphill battle. Just one of my observations.
And by the way, to defend myself, I can almost guarantee I have much more education than you. In part based on the following corrections to your grammar and spelling----
--it is defensible, not defendable
--speech, not speach
--will not learn, not wont
I have to laugh at the stupidity of this. First, it was a defendable position, that wording and usage was correct. Will not learn is up for grabs, speech was incorrect, I admit. Even a physician can make spelling mistakes.
ReplyDelete