http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120314/NEWS02/703149897
Published March 14, 2012 in the Rutland Herald
Springfield voters attribute budget failure to ‘lack of trust’
By Christian Avard
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — Local residents got their message across at the Springfield School District meeting on Monday. They said the school budget didn’t fail because of budget increases, but because of unresolved concerns and a lack of trust in the school district.
The Springfield School Board was going to discuss school budget alternatives until residents spoke up.
Ethan McNaughton grew up in Springfield School District. He said more cuts “are not the answer” to passing the budget.
“The school budget didn’t go down because of the money. The top issues have to do with personnel, personal grievances, and issues going on at the schools that have nothing to do with the budget,” McNaughton said. “When you bring it back to the voters, don’t just look at cuts. Try to hold forums about the voters’ concerns and do what you can so everyone understands what’s going on.”
McNaughton’s words opened the flood gates for a topic on the mind of many residents — the use and alleged misuse of time-out rooms.
Trish Plante said Elm Hill Primary School staff put her grandson in time-out room “for tapping a pencil and wouldn’t stop.” According to Plante, her grandson was “terrified” and staff members allegedly “made him sit against a bare wall, placed their hands on his head (to turn him around), and put a foot in the door to prevent him from getting out.”
Rebecca Michaud shared a similar story. Michaud’s son is in the second grade at Elm Hill and was “isolated in the room with the door shut.”
Michaud said she was never notified by school administrators and learned about it from her son. School administrators informed her the door was removed and de-escalation techniques will be implemented.
While Michaud was appreciative of the response, she was still “haunted.”
“How many children went there that did not have the type of family life that we have where we communicate with one another that were unable to tell their parents? All that did was create fear,” Michaud said. “There is no lesson learned from that.”
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Perotti did not address the allegations directly but said the use of the time-out rooms were in place prior to his tenure. They have been used as part of the district’s educational system and there are strict rules in place on the usage.
The school district received complaints about the rooms in February and there has been no seclusion of students since then, according to Perotti. He suggested the School Board re-examine the policies and make changes where necessary.
The School Board approved a motion to include a moratorium on seclusion rooms for discipline and punishment, that door be removed from seclusion rooms at all Springfield School District schools, to reinforce the existing policy and to put in place a zero tolerance policy for not reporting to parents when a student is restrained.
Tammy Farmer of the Springfield School District Budget Committee said the budget did not pass at town meeting because of a lack of trust. She suggested that if administrators and school officials earn back the voters’ trust, the budget is more likely to pass.
“It’s not because they don’t think we didn’t do a good job. It’s because questions are not being answered. There’s a lot of parents that would agree with that. You’ve got to earn the trust of this town,” Farmer said.
The Springfield School District Budget Advisory Committee will meet March 15 to discuss school budget alternatives.
Ethan McNaughton was right, it became very clear at the meeting that the budget got voted down for non-monetary reasons. Hopefully, the Board addressed some of those concerns, and will be able to address more in the coming weeks. It would, however, be contraproductive to make substantial additional cuts to the budget as this will just exacerbate some of the problems discussed and make it difficult to come up with options to improve the school system.
ReplyDeleteNot me , I cant pay more. 26 million WTH.
ReplyDeletePay more? Not me. 27 Million dollars for poorly performing schools, administration that continue to lie and mislead the public.
ReplyDeleteSell the Park and Union Schools as the voters agreed to (after three votes).
The good Doctor should be made available to the american workforce.
And replace him with someone who can direct the district in the right direction.
Yep, there are a huge number of buyers out there for Park Street. What you really mean is abandon another school building right? Let's see they vacated East School to sell it, and now they pay out $72,000.00 a year to the Catholic Church to house Gateway. Yeah that was a sensible move. We have such a shortage of large empty brick buildings in Springfield, I am sure the private sector is just going to snap up Park Street.
DeleteSell Union Street? Didn't they just renovate Union Street? Why on earth would you want to sell a brand new school?
ReplyDeleteYou need to get your facts right before spewing off on a blog. The voters never agreed to sell Union Street.
Facts? You think they are interested in facts? The facts are that the only way that Park Street can be successfully sold is for the School to work out a plan to fill it with other entities, then the School might be able to ease out of the building and turn it over to another entity. Until then all this clamoring about selling something really only amounts to creating another abandoned building which will deteriorate rapidly if they start shutting off the heat. Park Street is a major asset for this town, but only if the School comes together and decides to realistically work to make it happen. We have way too much negativity channeling here which is why it is difficult to get positive things done.
DeleteTo Stacey and the other parents- I took the Liberty of forwarding your complaints to the Commissioner of Education for the State of Vermont. He very much would like to hear from you both and any other staff member or individual who has information about children being locked in these rooms. Please email him details and your contact information to:
ReplyDeleteArmando.Vilaseca@state.vt.us
When your Superintendent has been as dishonest as Frank Perotti and the Board has ignored request from the community to have him removed, The Budget will never pass! Too many questions of lies, cover UPS and misuse of funds!
ReplyDeleteOh that makes sense, let's punish all of the children and teachers and staff in the community in order to bullwhip a Superintendent. If you want to go after the Superintendent, by all means go after the Superintendent...but don't punish the whole community in order to vent your anger.
DeleteOur Community including the children have already been punished by lack of Leadership!! Why is it so many people, whose only link is their zip code, have so much animosity for the same man..FRANK PEROTTI? I have talked to so many people these last few days who dont even know each other, yet they all have situations that are concerning and lead back to deception and excuses involving our "Failing School District".... Thank God we have people out there who are finally willing to stand together to bring our comminuty and School System back to where it should be...Lets just Pray that this time the School Board hear's its community and works with us before all is lost!!
DeleteSo far I don't see much in the way of leadership being displayed here. There two seats available on the school board during the last election and only two candidates were formally on the ballot with one write in opponent. That does not sound like people stepping forward with leadership. This sounds more like a mob intent on blood, but with no solid proposals for exactly what they want to change except a new face in the superintendent's office.
DeleteThe solution is a pie throwing contest.
DeleteCud ya save som of thet pye, this road kilt stuff is a bit stringy. I been redding this stuff reel careful, and this Perottee fella mus be some dude. Is he the one that put the fella in the white house with the big ears? as anyone checked his birth certifier hes name sounds kind furren to me.
DeleteTomorrow is another school board meeting. I really would like to see a large turnout again from parents. You need to make your voices heard. We should be letting the board know we want Perotti to resign and we will work our best to get the budget passed.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you ask about the missing 10k dollars and don't accept the excuse of "oh we searched and couldnt find where it went"
Ask them why Steve Cone or Becky Read can't transfer over to the Elm Hill school to save money on Hiring yet ANOTHER administrator. That alone will save us 92k a year.
Make your voice heard or do not complain
Dare I mention this but tell them we want opt to have the State run the schools which would give us a proven management team of experts and proven results.
Thursdays meeting is a budget committee meeting, not a school board meeting. The School Board meeting is next Tuesday.
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DeleteIf you look back on when our schools started to fail was when Frank took over as our super. Do we know why Frank left as super for Ludlow? A Gentlemen from Ludlow approached me at work and said that we need to get him out before he ruins our schools like he did theirs. He was asked to leave or they would fire him. So why was he ever hired here. We need to get control or our schools again. If this goes on much longer we will either be home schooling our children or sending them else where. I am tired of giving my hard earned money to a bunch of people who do not know or care how they are spending it.
ReplyDeletebeen thinkin about home skoolin my Johnny now cause this walkin to skool to pick em up is tuckerin me out. My boyfriend kin smack him round and ee behaves jus fine for em. the way i see it ee'l ave mor tyme to deliver them packages fur them nice salesmen on Union street that way. any way if its good enuff fer Mr. Saintorum, its good enuff fer me. 'cept me boyfriend as questions about that aspirin
DeleteThe board will try to tell the public tomorrow that there is no public opinion portion to this coming meeting. Please please someone videotape them saying that. Under Vermont Law EVERY board meet with the exception of Executive Sessions, has to offer the public a chance to speak. IF they do not do that the district can be subject to a lawsuit. This just happened in another district and they found themselves sued. I dont remember what they called it but it is required by law.
ReplyDeleteNOW-here is another idea for the school board. You could show the community some faith and remove the prior approved raises for the Administrators. It may be a symbolic olive branch on your part. However, the community at large wants to have faith in you as a board that you will ask Dr. Perotti to leave employment with this district. His leadership has opened the doors of abuse to our elementary schools, his leadership has opened the doors to legal action in our Middle School and has sold many many high school students short of their fullest potential in life.
The meeting Thursday is the Budget Committee meeting. Not an actual School Board meeting. The committee contains a couple of the school board members, but it is not a board meeting! The committee is coming together to discuss the budget. If you have concerns and opinions on how to change the budget then by all means I would encourage you to attend the meeting. If you are planning on going to complain about the administration or policies, the budget committee has nothing to do with this.
DeleteJared, I appreciate your willingness to try and help people understand how the process works, but it wont help. These people are out for blood and wont stop till Dr. Perotti is tarred and feathered in front of Park Street School.
DeleteSo Jared you filming the general bloodletting tonight? Be sure to get the application of tar and feathers on film for the general audience please.
DeletePretty sure that the accusation made in this comment that they would not allow public opinion was proven false.
DeleteThis is a failure in leadership. This is what coach Paterno was fired for. It did not take this long to get rid of a leader in Penn State. So let's keep after the Pink elephant hunt.
ReplyDeleteNDP
Bring on the pitchforks! Oh wait, the riots in the streets were because they fired Paterno, not because he hadn't been fired. Am getting a little confused here.
DeleteThey fired Paterno because he did not do his job and did not protect innocent children. Let's not forget he is a mandated reporter of abuse as all school staff are required by law to do. The riots you speak of were not unlike springfield. He was loved by the students but he DID NOT DO HIS JOB. Just like the residents here want to vote for a budget because their friends and family work in the system. Springfield votes based on its relationships and not because of right and wrong or from a business perspective and THAT my friend is what has brought this town down the road it is on.
DeleteWow, I can just feel the love flowing down for Perotti here. Does he have family working in the system? I didn't know that. We better not hire somebody that is loved by the students, that would be really awful. Glad you straightened me out, I was getting really confused.
DeleteHere is a link to a SurveyMonkey survey for voters to provide feedback to the Budget Advisory Committee and to the School Board about why they think the budget didn't pass, as well as a way to offer comments/suggestions for moving forward. Please share widely so that they will have good feedback before the School Board meets next week. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DFDNW8K
ReplyDeleteWho voted Ethan McNaughton spokesman for the no voters? I, everyone in my extended family, business associates, and close friends all voted no to stop the waste and force change. Springfield already has about the high tax rate in the state, and what has it bought us, the undeniable, worst school system in Vermont. You can not buy your way out of failure.
ReplyDeleteSo what does the school board respond to? A couple parents who's ill behaved children are disciplined. Never mind that we have abysmal NECAP scores and 1/3 drop out rate. Absolutely absurd priorities. The typical, non gifted/non special Ed student is doomed. They just coast thru the system, unmotivated, unchallenged, assuming a lifetime of minimum wage jobs.
Demanding Perotti be fired is tantamount to a witch hunt. Due to citizen apathy, we have an incompetent school board of self interested soccer moms, and perennial do gooders. None of whom have any connection to current and future academic skill sets demanded by the technology sectors with the greatest job growth.
The school board has hired so many short term Superintendents and principles, no one on a upward career path would ever take the job. We're stuck with what we've got.
Want to see my yes vote? Stop the hollow cheerleading. (We all know our schools suck.) Revamp learning. Make excellence in education priority one. Immediately weed out the bad teachers. Shift the imbalance of funding from special Ed to science & math. Recruit the most talented science & math teachers from across the country. Build a faculty that we can be proud of. As for those that don't measure up, there is always a need for prison guards and guidance counselors.
Shifting funds from mandated special education expenditures, that sounds really good until the State steps in a fines the heck out of the school system. If you recall Senator Jeffords ceased to be a Republican when Bush refused to step up and pay for these Federally mandated programs.
DeleteIs there some reason why other school systems like Weathersfield are receiving their State reimbursements for construction work before Springfield does? Has anyone contacted our State Representatives about that?
DeleteNot to beat a dead horse, but in case you have not attended any of the meetings and have not watched them on SAPA, and have not read any of my posts on here...I support the schools and voted for the school budget. I think it is harmful to vote against a budget for non-budgetary reasons and have been urging people to vote "Yes" for the budget. I also urge everyone to voice any non-budgetary concerns in the proper forum, which is not on a budget vote, so that these concerns can be addressed. Otherwise we simply lose teachers and programs AND the concerns remain un-addressed.
DeleteMr. Financer, cutting funding does not improve policy. If you have concerns re policies, make constructive suggestions, step up to the plate and put your name behind them. Cutting funding does not improve test scores nor does it get kids to stop dropping out of school. In fact it can only accomplish the opposite. Springfield has good schools and good teachers. It has some specific issues that need to be addressed and the Board is attempting to do so. If you want an issue addressed, raise the issue. Stop voting down budgets.
Mr. McNaughton, I beg to differ with you. Machine Town Financier is clearly a person well versed in economics. Without men like him financing all the machine shops in Springfield where would all of our mill workers work. We need to keep it clear to the people that voting down the school budget is important to guaranteeing the future quality of their children's lives. Little minds, as one of the speakers eloquently said, need to be protected and by all means preserved. What would happen to this town if we ran out of little minds, it would promote social unrest, marriages would start falling apart, women would demand birth control, etc. etc. No its much better to convince them that our schools, how did he say it, oh yes, "suck". If enough people begin to believe that wholeheartedly, then the tuition for my children in private schools will go down as the middle-class mortgage their homes to send their kids elsewhere. Do you not understand you are advocating class warfare. Now be reasonable and lead the no voters.
DeleteThis is another simple case of fiscal conservatives trying to get working people to vote against their economic best interest. If what happened to the children, is really what happened to the children, then there will be consequences, but it is not going to do those children one whit of good to slash the budget further.
DeleteI dont think Ethan is the spokesman for all NO voters, but it was pretty clear the other night, no one wanted to talk numbers, people only wanted to talk leadership (or lack of).
ReplyDeleteMachine Town Financier is right on one thing. No one, with an upward career path is going to take the superintendent position in Springfield. The town will need to overpay for a good one, because no one in their right mind would take this job.
The superintendent works for the school board, the school board works for the citizens of Springfield. If people are so upset with Frank's performance they should have been lining up to be his boss on town meeting day so they could fire him.
I would gladly overpay for a superintendant who could produce results and turn the system around. You have to spend money to make money as the old saying goes. The education system is paramount to a successful rebuilding of the town and without that foundation this town will continue to starve itself out. So if it takes paying a new super double what we are now, and the person knows what to do and takes the steps to build the schools into the best schools around...I am happy to pass that budget
DeleteBut to keep someone because we are scared of change and become complacent and accepting of the inconsistencies is crazy. To have the attitude of "oh well this is the best we can do and lets not consider something better" is stupid. That is what we have done with the entire town. We have said these are the cards we are dealt and that is entirely the wrong attitude. We can do better and we deserve better and until EVERYONE realizes that this entire town will remain the rat on the wheel...running and running but going nowhere.
I am in favor of change, and am in favor of the School taking affirmative positive action to help the community. That does not include creating anymore abandoned school buildings. If the citizens really believe that the Superintendent is part of the problem, then have no issue with their seeking to have him removed. I do have an issue with the idea that defeating school budgets somehow mysteriously improves the school system. Instead of voting down the budget, those who disapprove of the way the system is being run should have been standing for election as school directors.
DeleteI totally agree with you, how do we change that mentality in this town. I was in no way saying we should continue to employ someone who is not performing. It
DeleteSwitching gears, I wish the town government understood the mentality that you have to spend money to make money. We should double our dollars spent on economic development. Or at least spend more on cleaning up downtown, making property owners remove the trash piling up on top of dumpsters.
Look the issue of downtown is on the backburner and not the issue we are dealing with at hand. Everything happens little by little. The cleanup and transition of the downtown business area will happen in time ONLY when we get the school system in check. I am not saying I am supporting the school budget at this time. The point I am making is to improve the school system and assit in passing a budget, the board needs to remove Perotti, that will improve moral and trust within the community. We have to have a long hard search for a qualified and proven individual to take the helm of our school system and turn it into a system that draws families and professionals BECAUSE the education system is so good.
DeleteTo address Jack- Listen I hear what you are saying about the old school and I do understand your point to a degree, I think what the residents have a problem with is the outright twisting by Perotti on their vote and the semantics of wording. Had the residents known that he would twist their vote of closing the school and turn around and say well you said close it to children not offices..that pisses people off. They voted to close down the school period...empty. For most of the residents they see that as a huge impact on the budget and it adds to their frustration and anger in the mismanagement of the system. So let's not take that so personal. Does that building have use to be re-purposed? yes, of course however the budget and what is being spent to keep it open are stupid. The residents see it as a castle for the king who is not performing his job. In this whole issue are many many side issues-such as policies, priorities, abuse, lack of training, too many families all working within the same system. I mean the list goes on and on and there has to be a balance somewhere. Honestly , the place to start is with replacing him. We need to set our priorties straight and get the system functional and I truely believe that the town will grow once that happens. So much is hidden in the budget and those are the things that need tweezed out for the public.
So, to ease your mind a bit- I would love to see the Park Street School rehabbed maybe for the parks and rec. It is good usable space. I would love to see gateway moved back into one of the smaller empty buildings that we own so we are not losing money, the central offices should also go into the smaller buildings or rent space in one of our office buildings downtown. One step at a time man...lets all straighten this mess out so we can grow and expand but to do so we need him gone plain and simple.
Anonymous, while I questioned the wisdom of moving Gateway out of East School. It does not make sense to pay rent outside the school system when we have an empty building. East School is at least arguably saleable, I suspect it could be converted to subsidized apartments -- although the residents in the area would probably wish they had fought to keep it open as an elementary instead of moving their kids into the private Catholic school which was open at the time. Park Street on the other hand is not readily saleable as anything other than a school. I am not aware of any other small buildings owned by school district elsewhere in town. Gateway had been in North School at one point, but the school system no longer owns North School. Southview School is occupied the Community Players and is too small in any event. Gateway is not something that is appropriate to locate downtown -- a lot of people get Gateway confused with the former Choices (then Precision Valley High School) program. They are very different, Gateway has children with severe behavioral problems who cannot handle the normal school environment. You do not want children with these problems housed in an office building downtown. Precision Valley High School students are youths who are in need of an alternative academic setting in order to deter them from dropping out of school. I am not sure of its current status or location, it was downtown at one point and then it was moved to the Tech Center -- it maybe in need of a new home as well, but it should not be confused with the other program. The referendum needs to be understood in context, at the time there was a fight as to whether to consolidate the elementary schools into two schools or to stay with three elementary schools. I really don't care where they house the Central Office, but they need to keep heat in Park Street in order to maintain its condition until it can be filled. The School needs to exert leadership in pushing to get it converted to other uses, in the past after proposals were submitted it just sat back and expected things to magically happen. That is not the way it works, they have to push to get it converted and occupied -- otherwise, it will just become an abandoned storage building, and its too nice of a building for that to be its fate.
DeleteWow Alpin, you trying to see who can write the longest comment or something. What are the chances that anyone read past the first six lines of that post. You had me at "subsidized apartments".
Deleteorgasms over a movie theater.........
DeleteREBUILD THE PARK STREET SCHOOL.....
YOU'LL GET MORE THAN JUST ORGASMS
It doesn't sound like Ethan McNaughton was trying to be the spokesperson for all the no voters, it sounded more like he was trying to reason with both the no voters and the board.
DeleteNow wait a minute here Anonymous we have a fine tradition of supporting trickle down economics in Springfield. It, along with completely unregulated free trade agreements with Communist China, has done wonders for our local economy. Why just the other day Machine Town Financier was proposing that we teach Chinese at the High School so the students could learn to talk to their future employers. Everyone in the Tea Party clearly understands that if you slash all government services except the armed forces statione overseas that the local economy is going to go off like a rocket. We don't need any flaming liberals encouraging the peasant class into thinking we need to spend more money, besides I can get Johnny to pick up the roadkill and probably sift through the dumpsters.
ReplyDeleteBoss, you really need to learn which "Reply" to click on, there are so many would be candidates on here named Anonymous that it is hard to tell who you are talking to. Did you happen to mention to Machine Town Financier that China was a communist country? Or is that no longer relevant to Tea Party types?
DeletePrivate industry spends money to make money. The federal government spends money to drive the national debt thru the roof! Welcome to the soon-to-be $16 TRILLION NATIONAL DEBT. There is no more of "others' money" for the feds to spend. GET IT? We're broke. It's time to come to grips with that fact or soon we will all fact the music of misery that national insolvency bestows on a country's people. Just ask Greece. Bond holders there have taken a 70% haircut on their holdings. Hey, they're really going to enjoy their retirements now - in the soup lines.
ReplyDeleteGOVERNMENT IS A COST - TO ALL OF US. It bleeds the economy dry with its insatiable appetite for more and more resources with less and less accountability. You're seeing it first hand in Springfield. GOVERNMENT (AND ITS RAMPANT SPENDING) CANNOT FILL THE VOID THAT THE DEPARTURE OF PRIVATE INDUSTRY BRINGS. Every time it tries, it's just prolonging inevitable economic failure. The answer lies in people stepping up and taking responsibility and not seeking more entitlements from a wasteful and insolvent government.
I can find a 10% savings in ANY GOVERNMENT BUDGET, guaranteed. Haven't seen an organization yet that couldn't achieve success on 10% less if they had the proper resolve. But we've created generations of whiners and Pollyannas over the past 40 years that know only one answer: MO' MONEY, MO' MONEY, MO' MONEY. The well is dry folks, it's time to ruck it up and suck it up with some strong leadership at every level - and Springfield continues to be adrift and leaderless...
Then step up, lead and find the 10% cuts.
DeleteI don't recall seeing an Anonymous on the ballot for school board. Did I miss a candidate, all I saw were two candidates and a person seeking a write in position. None of them were named Anonymous.
DeleteIf you did not see my name on the ballot, then you asked for the wrong ballot. This article is very clear. We do not live in a socialist country. Asking for more money to educate these children is really class warfare, you are really asking too much from those of us who are creating jobs in your community. How do you expect to keep all these robust industries revving full tilt, if you expect us to educate your children. So go out there and vote this budget down again and help keep this the land of the free and the brave.
DeletePost the budget online and I'll show you an easy 10% in reductions!
DeleteMittens, I believe there is a cap on the taxes on your 300th home here, so I don't think the local school budget affects your tax rate. Besides hasn't Bains already dismantled the local machine shops, offshored the profits, and sold the machinery to China?
Delete"Post the budget online and I'll show you an easy 10% in reductions." Translated: I am too lazy to serve on the Budget Advisory Committee, ask or email for a copy of the budget to be delivered to me, or go to a meeting, but if you just post it online i can rip it apart like everything else i read on the internet.
DeleteBut if they post it online it makes it so much easier to misinterpret whatever it says. Do you think that they actually are interested in correct information. I have never known Steve Hier to give anything but a correct and honest answer if a direct inquiry is made to him at a meeting, and if he doesn't have the answer off the top of his head, he brings it to the next meeting.
DeleteIt looks like we have a vicious cycle. As an employer in the region, I struggle to find qualified employees. By continually voting the budget down (because you don't believe in socialism?), you reduce the qualified workforce. Like many others in manufacturing, I am looking to move my company elsewhere so I can get a qualified workforce; I have jobs available, just no one to fill them. From a taxpayer's point of view, it seems to me that the less we educate our children, the more will end up on the welfare books as well as in prison ($54,000/year). So to me, there is no better investment of our society's money that educating our youth.
DeleteAnonymous March 16, thank you for your comment. Please don't give up on Springfield just yet. This town has a lot of heart, and are schools are producing great students. Unfortunately, you do not often see them spoken of in public, and unfortunately many are moving away because we have been plagued with wet blankets at choke points in the Town. But, that is changing. If you will notice the age of some of the people who are leading the charge to get the budget passed, and also note the age of the write in candidate for school board. We have a rising generation of young people coming back to Springfield intent on making a change for the better. I am not one of the young people, but my heart is gladdened to see them returning. They have ideas, spirit, and passion and they will reinvent Springfield.
DeleteDarn it Alpin, you stole the words right out of my head. Yes March 16, I want to echo Alpin's words. Our greatest export has been our children with excellent minds prepared here in Springfield in this school system. Some stayed, more are coming back. And they are coming back with the intention of overcoming the defeatist attitude sometimes displayed in our leadership. They can and will make a difference if we give them a chance. They want this budget passed, they want the town cleaned up, they want the industry restored and diversified. And they understand that education is the key and they will overcome. I just wish that I was that young again to wage the fight, but I will help them, and people like my friend Alpin will help them...we are too old to do much more than try to help, but what we can do we will.
DeleteI challenge the school system to expose the LINE ITEM BUDGET to some well needed daylight by publishing it online for all to see in explicit detail.
ReplyDeleteOh at first I thought you were going to challenge them to a pie flinging contest. Exactly what do you mean by a "LINE ITEM BUDGET"? I know Bush used to talk about that in terms of a veto. It might be more interesting to know when each of the contracts in the central office expire -- that would be more interesting to the lynch mob, I suspect. Might be interesting to know when they were signed as well. In fact, you might want to see what they say about RIF notices to central office types so that their contracts don't automatically renew. You are too fixated on the budget for what you are really interested in. Just saying...not recommending...
DeleteThat a boy Tetherhead, throw in a reference to Bush to yet again try and divert attention from the actual content of the budget. You're too afraid to know what's in it to even consider looking at it, because you know we'll find so many dubious expenditures that would discredit the mo money crowd. Don't worry, it's unlikely that the administration or Puggy's committee will let too much information slip before the next vote. Suppression of the facts is the only chance they stand to get it passed.
DeleteActually Anonymous, if you had actually bothered to read Aethelred's comment he gave you some hints about where you actually might more efficiently spend your time. The problem with the punish the children crowd is they are so busy brandishing pitchforks that they never listen. Kind of like the parent who kept interrupting the school board when it was trying to set a date to get a report back.
DeleteThis is a very good idea.
Deleteline item budget.... Post it on this blogspot.
Amen. You want our yes vote, let's see your LINE ITEM budget.
ReplyDeleteAre we in Church? or was that a lead into "...and pass the ammunition"? Just inquiring...not suggesting?
DeletePerhaps it is time to consider school choice. By that I mean, let the middle class and those better off, establish a private day school in town which is not subject to these budget fights. Then it would be possible to just allow people to defeat budgets because they do not care for administrators chosen by their elected representatives to do their thing. Also, it would allow the schools to focus on typical students and special education students, so they can reach their full potential in life. The parents of slightly better than typical students would have the option to home school. The rest would then benefit from their parents clawing the eyes out of the school administrators, yet we would still be able to attract the better sort of people in to town.
DeleteGo to Google.com Type in FRANK S. PEROTTI JR.
DeleteI did and it was pretty boring.
DeleteSo are all of these posts from you folks who wont be here on the blogspot after the school budget vote
CAN YOU PLEASE ADD HUMOR!!!!!
LINE ITEM IDEA.... POST IT ON THIS BLOG...
Deletewe need to shake it out a little..
THEN DOUBLE IT
Exactly what would be that "full potential in life" you are referring to Mittens?
DeleteI dunno Meester Jack bit Boss says that Mittens promiseed a coon in every pot so long as wee shoot em ourseelves an ee sade Johnny cud go to dat finishin skool up on der hill by de interstate exchange as soon as ee was old enuff
DeleteThe board only just updated and approved the seclusion policy. The only option they had was to terminate the individual who initiated whatever abuse however I am doubtful that was done and it appears obvious there was more than one instance. While considering that the point that this was allowed and regularly used is just part of the issue you also have the ongoing issue that the district is not reporting and withholding reports.
ReplyDeleteMost importantly for the negative posters is the FACT Not only could those families sue the district for abuse, and subpoena the staff, the families could also throw in a charge of unlawful restraint and imprisonment. Those types of charges have the potential of costing the district millions and THAT is the kind of issue that I think each person for the budget should have issues with because that money comes out of your pocket eventually.
I dont think anyone has a problem paying teachers we have a problem paying for a superintendant whose staff is out of control and unaware of state and federal laws and that has the potential of costing us all millions of dollars.
And what is the massively pressing issue. Everyone acts as if the world is going to stop without the budget passing. Get real people. The budget is for fiscal year 2012-2013 not this year. Nobody is going without a paycheck dont worry. Or is it rather everyone is worried that if a new superintendant is hired THEY might be on the block also? Im just trying to figure out why the pro-budget people are so worked up. It isnt any skin off your nose other than you will be required to re-vote big deal.
I believe this comment makes very good sense. Since I send my children to private school, I do not see what all this fuss is about. The school board is only sending out RIF notices to nearly all the young teachers in the system. If you defeat the budget several more times, you will still have the mandated minimum number of teachers who have been in the school system for years and have not yet reached retirement. Should you really expect more than that? This is not a socialist country. If you cannot afford to send your children to private school, then you only have to look in the mirror for someone to blame. What you need to do is get the school budget reduced to a level that even the middle class no longer want to have their kids in the public school, then you can hire a businessman to run the schools on a very rigorous budget with very clear transparent budgets.
DeleteMittens, did one of your companies sell that software program for tracking student performance to the school system that no one in the central office knows how to run to the school system?
DeleteI heard that they didn’t terminate the people involved. They just moved them to another school. Oh the interesting thing is that they were not even teachers, but paras. We had people who were not certified as teachers disciplining our children. People, PLEASE do not let Mr. Perotti get away with this! Come to the board meeting and tell the board you want change NOW! No change, non budget!
DeleteI heard that if I catch a leprechaun I will find a pot of gold. I also heard that if I put pop rocks in my mouth with coca cola my head will explode. And, I heard that if I break a mirror I will have seven years of bad luck.
DeleteI heard if you double the school budget
Deletemore young couples with healthy kids will mmove to town.
hes anyone heard from me Johnny ee was out deliverin bags fer them nice salesmen on Union street dis mornin about 3 am or so am afeerd dat blak barr runnin round behind Elm skool git em, er ee was tryin dat pop rocks and coca cola ting someone said the las tyme dey saw em ee was in a box on top of Mittens car but Boss Hogg said es aroma too strung fer Mittens wife and she dusn't wanna git er Caddiwac durty am reel cuncerned cause me boyfriend ee muved out cuz that aspirin ting dinna work
DeleteLooking the annual report on page 176, it has a One million dollar budget for central officies. Pretty expensive office at Park Street School for, what, 10 employees? Move them out sell the old school, and knock off one million off the proposed budget.
ReplyDeleteSimple.
Budget request breakdown for central office -FYI:
DeleteSuperintendent - $126,263.00
Fiscal Director - $102,308.00
Curriculum Director - $100,952.00
Bookkeepers (4) - 176,322.
Adm. Asst. (Superintendent) - 40,789.00
Adm. Asst. (Curr Dir) - $19,261.00 (half-time position)
Sub Coordinator (half-time) - $17,907.00
Thanks for the info. So if my math is correct, then the difference is $459,000. Boy that sure can buy lots of oil, and power to heat and light a building for those employees.
DeleteClose the building and move them to smaller quarters.
Do more with less.
As I recall, they said at the Town Meeting that the 1 Million also included advertising, legal expenses, etc. So you cannot simply subtract salaries from the amount and assume that the rest is heat and electricity. In addition, you already have a variety of community programs utilizing Park Street.
DeleteOn another note time out rooms or not.. A normal citizen would get DCF called on them for locking a child in a room for disipline, has anything been done about the school building these rooms with this intention? I get called because my son made a girl uncomfortable with a compliment, my son is now followed around the school.. yet if there was money in the budget for more staffing the initial incident never would have happened. WHo is going to be held responsible for the misuse of town funds?
ReplyDeleteUmmmmm.....maybe YOUR SON!
Deletehey anonymous, before you make a statement about a child being locked in a room you may want to go for yourself and ask to see the doors for these rooms. There are no locks. And before people keep ranting about this issue they may want to read the laws about these rooms. Springfield is not the only School District that has and uses these rooms. To me everyone is listening to a couple of parents and things are getting blown up. It is just like the kids game "Telephone". One perso starts the conversation and by the time it gets around the circle the story is totally diffrent . People need to go and personally find out things for themselves. Not listen to someone else that may be stretching the truth. There are always two sides to a story. So for everyone out there go and get the information and see for yourselve . Lets stop jumping to conclusions with this he said, she said bull. If you werent there and dont go get the facts first hand then how do you know the truth.
DeleteChannel 5 will be at Elm Hill to interview Becky Read about the seclusion rooms on Wednesday. Oh me bad, they are called "sensory rooms" now! Maybe some of the parents whose children were involved should call channel 5 to get their side of the story in the news too! Otherwise all channel 5 will get is nothing happened from the principal!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about channel 5 news! I already contacted them and would be happy to share my documentation.
DeleteI hope that the other parents whose kids were put in a cubby, or worse yet had the rooms used will contact them as well.
At the poster with the legal papers...That was VERY interesting. This was addressed in another article/post. They found for the plaintiff however, what is most important is that there was no discrepancy in what he did only that the punishment wasn't warranted. So for all the individuals who believe so much you might want to read about the mismanagement that occurred. The fact of the matter was that individual didnt follow procedure and rules and clearly did what they wanted, when they wanted and THAT is what brought us to this point now.
Re: "...yet if there was money in the budget for more staffing the initial incident never would have happened."
ReplyDeleteI see, so more money will prevent any and all incidents, particularly those involving the above poster's son.
It's this kind of flawed logic and refusal to take responsibility for one's own actions and those of their children that contiues to destroy any hope of fiscal reform. "Little Johnny" wouldn't behave that way if we just threw more money at the schools!
Rather than the taxpayers getting fleeced in a vain attempt to compensate for your flawed parenting, why don't you just take "Little Johnny" to the proverbial woodshed for some behavior modification? Quit leaning on the village for your own failings.
Yup your right above poster...Its the kids and the parents fault. I mean it must have been the girls fault who was taken advantage of by the soccer/teacher at the high school right? I mean after all she probably WANTED IT right? Kind of like women who get raped right? If they had been taught better they wouldn't have been raped..Yup they all deserved what they got! Afterall-that is what you are saying. Let's take every ounce of blame off THE ADULTS and the licensed, educated professionals and lets blame the kids and their families. I guess that would go for the same with the abuse problem at Riverside...those damn kids deserve what they get...Same with racial beatings...all "those people" deserve to be dragged from cars or hung from trees.
ReplyDeleteI think you made your bigoted point very well. Unfortunately, it made you look like the sorry, uneducated, bigoted, and classless adult that you must be!
Maybe there is enough blame to go around to all of us (after all, I assume that everyone posting here are adults). Maybe, if we stopped worrying about whose fault the past was, we can spend more time and energy working on solutions, as a community. There is plenty of work to be done by all of us!
DeleteThis has to take the award for the most rant to date, nonsensical beatings, molestations, rape, and racial lynchings. May have forgot mass genocide include the Rape of Nanking and the holocaust.
DeleteAll could have been adverted by increasing the school budget.
We can only hope you didn't pass on such a genetic rift in mental capacity to another generation.
dey ain't gonna make us sign and disclosure release r dey jus cause de teachers canna defend demselves without brakin de law I donna wanna dem talkin bout wa my little Johnny ded to dat teacher ee only weigh couple hunerd pounds and dat teacher was almost as tall as em me boyfriend ee straitin Johnny out soon as dey let em outta prison
DeleteSettle down Anonymous, nobody is going to make the parents sign disclosure releases. We just let these parents beat on administration so as to defeat these socialist budgets. The school system may lose some of our better young teachers because of all the RIF notices, but nobody is going to let the teachers or administration defend themselves by talking specifics. The other school systems in the area all have seclusion rooms, but we have a good thing going here to keep defeating the budget regardless of what disciplinary actions the administration took because they can't talk about those either. That's the beauty of it, and I talked to the parole officer and your boyfriend should be going to rehab soon. That means he will be back here in about a month. So relax.
Delete