School asks for budget support

The chairwoman of the Springfield School Board made a plea Monday night for voters to support the $27.4 million school budget, saying that $1 million in cuts had already been made.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140304/NEWS02/703049919/1001/NEWS

School asks for budget support By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | March 04,2014 Rutland Herald Photo by Len Emery A group of Springfield students sing “America the Beautiful” before the town meeting Monday night. SPRINGFIELD — The chairwoman of the Springfield School Board made a plea Monday night for voters to support the $27.4 million school budget, saying that $1 million in cuts had already been made. Chairwoman Jeanice Garfield told voters at Springfield town meeting that if the school budget was turned down, the board would have no choice but to make more cuts. Several people, both longtime area residents and newcomers to town, voiced support for the schools, and said they were dismayed by past budget defeats and cutbacks in school spending. Seth Lauritsen, who was raised in Weathersfield and graduated from Springfield High School, said he had moved back to Springfield after seven years in Portland, Ore., because he loved the Springfield community. Lauritsen asked the School Board why it was that the school budget is often defeated at town meeting. “How can like-minded people help make the Springfield school budget pass?” Lauritsen asked. “Thank you for that vote of confidence,” said Garfield. Lauritsen said he trusted Garfield “more than anyone I know” with charting Springfield’s educational course. Garfield said the budget would require a 6 cent increase in the tax rate, but she noted that two-thirds of Springfield residents are eligible for income sensitivity tax payments, with only one-third of Springfield residents paying the full tax amount. About 100 people attended Springfield town meeting at the Springfield High School. Before the meeting formally began, residents were serenaded by a special chorus of Springfield school children, from kindergarten to grade 12, who sang “America the Beautiful,” as well as the state song, “These Green Mountains.” One resident, Richard Katz, who said he had moved to Springfield with his wife three years ago, said he was dismayed by the repeated budget defeats and cuts in education spending. But on the other side of the argument, Neil O’Donnell said he had also recently moved to Springfield, but he thanked the School Board for recognizing the tough budget times and making the cuts. O’Donnell said that one of the cuts — of the Russian language program at Springfield High School — could be countered by students studying Russian on the Internet. Woody Bickford thanked the board for already making budget cuts. “I congratulate and thank the school board, they took the bull by the horns,” Bickford said. “There’s bound to be some loss,” said Bickford, referring to the cutbacks in the schools. “Sometimes you have to go through this painful experience.” On the town side, voters asked questions about the poor condition of town roads, as well as a proposed program that would get new homes a three-year tax break. Both issues will be decided during Australian balloting today. As he has for years, resident Alan Lockwood took the Select Board to task — this year the topic was the condition of the town’s roads. Lockwood said that the town’s snow plows were peeling off the patches the road crew on put on Spencer Hollow Road last fall. Town Manager Robert Forguites didn’t disagree with Lockwood, but said that the condition of the roads this winter wasn’t just a Springfield problem. Forguites noted that the town had included an additional $100,000 toward road reconstruction to the town’s usual budget of $400,000 for paving in the $10.7 million town budget. And he said the town would be doing a study and inventory of all the town’s roads this summer. Polls are open today from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Riverside Middle School in Springfield.