The Springfield School Board last night unanimously set a new, lower school district budget for residents to consider after the original budget was voted down earlier in March.
After considering recommendations from both the Budget Advisory Committee and the administration, the board decided on $115,650 in reductions from the $27.05 million budget that failed on March 6.
http://www.eagletimes.com/news/2012-03-28/Front_Page/School_board_settles_on_new_district_budget.html
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
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A token 0.4% budget cut in frivolous spending?
ReplyDeleteUnacceptable and an insult to tax payers. Publish a line item budget so everyone can see non essential spending. As mentioned, if money alone would improve our schools, we'd already have the finest in Vermont.
I would hardly call the school budget frivolous spending, and I certainly don't understand the concept that defeating school budgets is supposed to improve schools. As it is, every young teacher in the school system got a RIF notice -- as a result we will probably lose some due to uncertainty as to the budget. Many of those who initially protested indicated they were doing so not because of the level of spending, but for other reasons. Its time to get this budget passed.
DeleteAlpin, people like Annonymous are only interested in spending the bare minimum necessary to still have the schools called schools -- even less if they thought they could talk people into less. They aren't interested in improving the schools, they are interested in crippling the schools.
DeleteAlpin, don't know where you got your information, but every young teacher DID NOT get a RIF notice as you indicated. There were only a small number of RIF notices. We will not get the budget passed if this kind of information is being passed to people. Please confirm your facts first, that is why people are confused.
DeleteWHAT!!! Alpin is wrong about something, I'm crushed! Please don't prove Aethelred wrong on anything, I'll have to then ban myself from reading this blog. What is wrong with people in this town anyhow, taking time to correct one's facts on a blog, gezz.
DeleteActually a very large number of RIF notices go out everytime a budget fails. There is nothing the School Board can do about that because the contracts require that RIF notices go out by a certain date. So even though the budget may not cut those teachers, they have to send out RIF notices because the board doesn't know if the next budget will pass. A RIF notice merely preserves the option to lay off a teacher. Since the teachers most recently hired are the ones with the least seniority, they are the ones most likely to get RIF notices. The ones most recently hired are likely to be the youngest teachers. The volume of RIF notices sent out each year in Springfield causes tremendous anxiety amongst teachers, and we have had qualified applicants for positions which the administration wanted to hire -- decline the position because of perceived job insecurity. Perceived job insecurity has to do with whether the School System has a reputation for budget failures and high volume RIFs. There may have been some young teachers who did not get RIF notices, but a bunch of them did.
DeleteBut wait Alpin, everybody knows that we have a huge number of recently hired old teachers...uh don''t we? Don't confuse us with facts about contracts, we want to pretend that the budget is some abstract spending mechanism and that by cutting it wonderous miracles will happen that will improve the administration of the school and the quality of education. You know that right wing slogan that get paraded out all the time, "the best government is the government which governs least." Same principle applies here the best education system is the one which has the least number of teachers -- and these should only be math, science and maybe English. You know so that our children can go out there and work in all the thriving factories we have in Town...well on second thought math, science and maybe Mandarin...
Delete"Publish a line item budget so everyone can see non essential spending"
DeleteTheres a big old stack of them available at every board meeting. That where I got mine. Can't fix lazy
I recant on the RIF issue for this year, it appears the RIFs were more limited this year and mainly aimed at the arts.
DeleteJust by way of information, in response to the first anonymous post. Under the new proposed budget, the total amount of taxes to be raised by taxes on Springfield properties, is LESS than it was last year. Please also remember that out of the total budget, only approximately 1/3 of the cost is raised by local property taxes. Stated another way, everytime a cut is made, 1/3 of that cut gets reflected in Springfield property taxes, 2/3 of it is a reduction in the amount of funding we get from the state. The portion of the school budget that is funded from Springfield property taxes is less than the town budget.
Delete$27,000,000.00+ budget for ~1500 students = +$18,000.00 per student. Not bad given the drop out rate, and where they DO NOT go to college (ie very few tier 1 or 2 schools).
DeleteBy the way, the problem is not the teachers, but the fact that Springfield is a low income/no income town.
Hot dog
DeleteAlpin Jack knows as much about school budgets as he does about wildlife!!!
ReplyDeleteLol...let me guess Anonymous, you are from North Springfield...yeah I agree, Alpin doesn't know much about school budgets or school teacher contracts. I bet he doesn't even know how many RIF notices went out...by the way, do you? No? Oh. Are you the one who thinks that bull and blighted pines are essential to wildlife since, let's see no young growth grows under them...yep, you must be the one.
DeleteThere are too many comments by two particular individuals on these blogs, anonymous individuals I might add. It has made reading the comments pointless. Do you know who you are? Take a guess.....
ReplyDeleteJust a note you may want to make, you are also Anonymous. Not that I disagree with you but I find your comment rather ironic. Of course you may notice that I too am Anonymous.
DeleteBy the way, there will be a meeting of all the Anonymous posters on this site next week on a anonymous day at an anonymous time. The meeting place will be the regular anonymous place, our President, Mr. Anonymous will be present to talk about several anonymous things. Please bring an anonymous desert to share. Thank you - Anonymous.
DeleteIt is my understanding that a meeting has been called by Anonymous of the local Anonymous Anonymous at the Turning Point Club. Please keep this Anonymous however.
DeleteI made the above comment. I will not identify myself because I do not wish to be harassed. More specifically, Alpin Jack and Aethiered the Undready make too many comments. It has diminished the entire blog site. Make sense?? Get it??
DeletePeople should stick to things they know about, RIFing is not one of them or how the teacher's contract works. Do you even know what the contract says? A large number of RIF's do not go out when the budget fails. Again our highly educated people making statements they know nothing about, no wonder we are in the situation we are in! Of course this blog is all for people who have a sense of humor, no one takes it seriously.
ReplyDeleteRIFs are going out. In the budget that was defeated there were already cuts to the music and art positions at both elementary schools, even though numerous studies have shown that early involvement in the arts help to significantly raise standardized test scores, particularly in math. These positions were cut early on in the budgeting process, then restored, but ultimately cut down again at the last meeting where the board approved the budget prior to the vote. I know for certain of these cuts to certified staff. It's entirely possible there could be more cuts as a consequence of this new budget.
ReplyDeleteYes RIFs are going out, but it appears they mainly went to art and music positions and half an English position this year. In years past the RIFs have been more numerous. I agree with you regarding arts however we have several people who believe the world revolves around our non-existent manufacturing sector.
DeleteIt doesn't matter how much overall teaching experience a teacher has when it comes to being RIFed in Springfield. In Springfield, RIFs are determined based on seniority in the district. A teacher with many more years of experience but less seniority in Springfield will be RIFed in favor of a teacher with much less overall experience but more teaching time in Springfield. The contract is on the district's website for anyone to read.
ReplyDeleteIt depends somewhat on the department, but in general that is correct. If a department is not one that is specifically tested for on the standardized testing, it requires ardent defenders on the Board or in the public, otherwise its teachers are vulnerable.
DeleteUnfortunately, one of the teachers getting RIFed is a vastly superior teacher with many more years experience and skill but with slightly, very slightly, less time in the district. I'm generally a union supporter but having a RIF policy based only on seniority does a disservice to everyone involved.
DeleteI am sure that one was older, because the clear statement made elsewhere on this blog is that the young ones did not get RIFed.
DeleteThere are some wonderful young teachers in the district, who also have the lowest salary. Why do they get RIFed?
DeleteThe bottom line was not the problem with the budget. The bottom line was lack of respect and faith in administration and the way the money is distributed.
ReplyDeleteClearly that was not heard by either the budget committee or the board members.
Don't get caught up in dollars, it is the people running the show that are the problem.
Okay, I am completely lost at this point. Its not the dollars, but we defeat the budget anyway which then allows other Anonymous to say that the public has mandated more cuts, so we get more cuts. Where exactly does this thinking lead?
DeleteIt leads to the board realizing that the public wants change. Sometimes the waters are not always calm. If it means continually voting down a budget to get those changes then that is what the public finally needs to stand up and do. At the end of the day..a budget will be passed at some point. Go back to last years budget at the least and present that. OR we could make some administrative changes. At that point I feel pretty strongly that the public would happily vote in a higher budget to cover that choice and the funding that "may" be needed.
DeleteSo to answer your question.Where exactly did the thinking lead during the bus boycotts, civil rights movement, women's sufferage era? I mean let's learn from the past please. People are asking for CHANGE!
You may feel strongly that the public would happily vote in a higher budget. I am not sure that the other Anonymous posting on this thread will agree. If you have been attending the meetings, it is pretty clear that a budget defeat despite pleas to the contrary from various sources always triggers more budget cuts. And other Anonymous on this blog frequently will come back and say the cuts were not deep enough to satisfy them. I don't remember the bus boycotts or the civil rights movement calling on Congress to reduce the Federal budget in order to stop racial discrimination? Their activism was targetted towards remedy the perceived problem, not causing a lot of collateral damage to other programs which were benefiting African Americans. What people are trying to say is if you want CHANGE, that is fine, find a way of channeling your zeal in a manner that is actually related to the CHANGE you seek.
DeleteExactly to the post above-
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately voting down a budget has become the only means of making the statement since the school board will not create the change that the voters and residents have asked over and over for. I guess this means alot of campaigning to vote another budget down until the board gets the message.
You know what I noticed which irritated me. The budget committee came up with something like 155k in cuts but the school board and the superintendant dropped that amount to 115k. For those voters out there where the increase in taxes was an issue...115k will amount to pennies reduced off your taxes because there was still a substantial increase in the budget from last year. Something has got to give here. I am still voting NO.
I apologize to those who may have their job reduced.Some of us are not looking to put people out of work however, rough patches will happen for the greater good. Have faith that we have faith in the individuals recieving RIF notices. What a shame that the board and the administration think that this is the only way for our "leaders" to reduce an extremely bloated budget.
Exactly what is that message? Some parents didn't like the "cloud rooms", the board voted to remove the doors on the "cloud rooms". A lot more people say they don't like Dr. Perotti which may or may not be justified -- the fact remains that removing him prior to his contract expiring would be costly, so it is not a truly feasible during this budget cycle. Then it sounds like you really are complaining about money -- which several of the other Anonymous seem to be saying they aren't complaining about. So its not terribly clear what the "change the voters and residents have asked" for is -- it certainly doesn't seem that they necessarily agree with you that the budget is bloated.
DeleteAlpin-Try as you may to bully your opinion or view or whatever. I think that the residents who voted against the budget understand exactly what I was saying.
ReplyDeleteYet again-this is the problem in Springfield. We have individuals who really cannot grasp, comprehend or respect a view outside of their own. Instead they attempt to bully and belittle others views or ideas. I am sorry you may not like my comment or my view but that is the wonderous thing about a free democratic society that votes its choices. It is the wonder of American society to have freedom of speech. Just as you have your antiquated views, I have my progressive and enlightening views. I guess the residents have long since tired of people TELLING them what they should think. Good luck to you though...many blessings sent your way!
Well not know which of the several Anonymous posting here you are, it is impossible to respond to this since some Anonymous are calling for deeper cuts, some are saying the public will support a higher budget if they fire administrators, and some are calling for unspecified CHANGE. But, not sure how my comments constitute bullying.
DeleteAlpin, you just stop right there. Stop using all those fancy words, with your fancy name, and stop bullying us.
ReplyDeleteWe here in Springfield vote down our school budgets. It is just how it is here and you talking all positive about schools on this blog is just plain cyber bullying.
I have lived here since 2002 and in those 10 years there have been 8 budget defeats, get the picture? This town was one of only six in the entire state of Vermont to vote down its school budget on Town Meetin Day, comprende?
Let me try and put it in SAT terms for you: Apple pie is to America as voting down school budgets is to ________. You guessed it, SPRINGFIELD.
Now quit that cyber bullying bull crap.
I agree. We have a good thing going here Alpin, quit trying to mess it up. Springfield needs to keep thinking that you can cause positive change in the school system by defeating budgets and being a litte fuzzy on exactly what that change is. This way we do not have to worry about getting new teachers to come in and make us nervous with actual real change. So Alpin please stop this bullying.
Deleteyah me Johnny ee wer jus standin up to dem bulleen staff dat computeer part on de end of a lectric chord dun tought dat elm hill ladee ya don mess er rond wit Johnny no siree wy I was plum prod o em standin es groun an pertectin ees small mind
Delete