Dear Lawmakers,
Many of you know me however let me introduce myself to those who do not. My name is Kyle Rogers, I am a citizen of Bath and serve as Ward 3 City Councilor. I am also the chairman of the Sagadahoc republican Committee and founder of the Coastal Liberty Caucus.
I would like to bring your attention to what is happening in RSU 1 and some concerns that I have with regards to the current situation. In 2007 the citizens of the towns of Arrowsic, Bath, Georgetown, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich came together to create RSU 1 via the legislative bill LD910 (An Act to Permit Public Schools in the Lower Kennebec River Area to Regionalize to Achieve Efficiency and Improve Quality). This bill was created to consolidate School Union 47 into one administrative Regional School Unit. It was to be used as the model to create a statewide Regional School Unit system. The premises of the legislation was by consolidating the citizens would save tax dollars, in fact to quote the 2008 Education Inventory published on May 28th 2008, states it will:
1) Establish one school board of nine equal members [if all Union 47 and Bath joined RSU 1], with each board member representing 1/9th of the region's population.
2) Require each of the nine districts to include parts of at least two different communities comprised of about 20,000 people and 2,500 students.
3) Establish one superintendent, one administration, and one school budget.
4) Allow every citizen in the region to vote on the budget every year.
5) Transfer all educational assets to the region, however any abandoned schools' ownership would revert to present owners.
6) Require the region to assume responsibility for existing debt.
7) Expect students to attend schools within the region (students for whom Union 47 currently pays tuition to schools outside the district and Bath and their siblings would have “grandfathered” rights).
8) Allow school choice to all schools in the region.
9) Establish a "school advisory group" for each school.
10) Cut costs, all other things being equal, by approximately $500,000 the first year with savings expected to grow in subsequent years.
11) Require the region to assume responsibility for all existing collective bargaining agreements.
12) Allocate the local share of educational costs to the communities based on a weighted formula, one-third enrollment, one-third appraised property values, and one-third population.
Each of these lofty goals are all well and good, however I would like to point out that the school board election process is very complicated and convoluted. In some districts the person that currently occupies the seat on the board was a write in and had a total of 6 or 7 votes. This is a social problem and I understand that it is each individual’s responsibility to get out and vote. I also understand that serving on the School Board is generally a thankless job and not many people are interested in the job. I will tie this together later in my letter.
LD 910 did establish one superintendent, one administration and one budget, I think. I don’t see how this is any different from the Union 47 system we had except for the fact that the citizens of Woolwich no longer have control over the capital expenditures that might be necessary to keep their elementary school operational. Instead, it transferred that local control to a board, or should I say a superintendent, that in reality does not have to answer to the citizens of Woolwich. This holds true for the other town in RSU 1, there is no local control over the citizen’s tax dollars. The new elementary school in Woolwich is being built to handle many more students that the town has, does this mean that the students from Phippsburg, Bath, West Bath et al will soon be bused to Woolwich? I don’t have a crystal ball but I can almost bet on it. This means that the surrounding town will then be left with empty buildings.
This leads me to item number 5 above. “any abandoned schools' ownership would revert to present owners”. The town are now left with decaying buildings because the RSU no longer has a need for them. Did I mention that the buildings are in a steady state of decline because the RSU has only made meager capital improvements to the buildings. The last thing these towns need is an empty school building to take care of. Just ask the City of Bath how much it cost to manage empty buildings.
Item number 10 is the most egregious claim; “Cut costs, all other things being equal, by approximately $500,000 the first with savings expected to grow in subsequent years.” This was an empty promise or our RSU1 board is simply incompetent. I like to think that it was an empty promise since our school budget has gone from approximately $16-Million to $26-Million in 3 years. The proposed FY12 budget is expected to be 2.99% however the superintendent would like to have more. In the creation of the RSU 1 administration the legislature removed any checks and balances that were in place by allowing the elected officials of each town to approve their own school budget. We now have a new layer of government that has an appetite for spending tax dollars at will. The budget approval process is designed in such a way that it lends itself to automatic approval.
1. The RSU1 School board holds a series of public hearings already underway.
2. On May 31st the RSU holds an election which costs the taxpayer $3,000. This election is to adopt the school budget and is conducted in the gym of the Bath Middle School. This is the MOST IMPORTANT vote in this process. If the budget is approved then it goes on the June Ballot. If the Budget is not approved it does not go on the June Ballot and the school board must go back to the drawing board and make adjustments and hold another set of public hearings. Then once they have another budget another election will be held and another $3000 will be spent. Thus the process continues until they produce a budget that the taxpayers can live with.
3. Once the budget passes the process outlines in step 2, then it goes to the voter on the June ballot. If it does not pass then the school board merely has to adjust the budget over the next 10 days and hold another election. This election costs the taxpayer $7000 to $8000 to hold each time. Another funny thing, this is the only reason we are going to the polls in June.
I know from past experience that June elections are not very well attended. That’s not the issue though, the issue is the May 31st meeting where the “real” vote is taken. This meeting is publicized as a budget meeting and the administration historically pack the gym with people they know will support their increased spending.
I will now get to items 11 and 12, I was recently given the following information from a source within the RSU Administration: These numbers are only for Morse High School.
In the core departments the number of sections that have class sizes 9 or fewer is: 35 classes of 9 or fewer students
Here is the breakdown:
English: 13 sections of 9 or fewer
Social Studies: 11 sections of 9 or fewer
Science: 6 sections of 9 or fewer
Math: 5 sections of 9 or fewer
In the core departments the number of sections that have class sizes 13 or fewer is: 66 classes of 13 or fewer students
Here is the breakdown:
English 20 sections of 13 or fewer
Social Studies: 19 sections of 13 or fewer
Science: 14 sections of 13 or fewer
Math 13 sections of 13 or fewer
Here is the breakdown:
English: 13 sections of 9 or fewer
Social Studies: 11 sections of 9 or fewer
Science: 6 sections of 9 or fewer
Math: 5 sections of 9 or fewer
In the core departments the number of sections that have class sizes 13 or fewer is: 66 classes of 13 or fewer students
Here is the breakdown:
English 20 sections of 13 or fewer
Social Studies: 19 sections of 13 or fewer
Science: 14 sections of 13 or fewer
Math 13 sections of 13 or fewer
I understand and don’t want to displace teaching positions but in all my years of business practice, even I can see that these numbers are unacceptable. Some people say that we need to have lower class sizes because it make for a better learning environment. I would consider a class size of 18, which is double at least 35 classes that are being taught is not unreasonable. Overall there are 101 classes being taught at Morse High School that have fewer than 13 students. I also know that there are classes with in the Vocational School that have as few as 0 students enrolled and the teacher is still paid to teach the class. The more I look into this the more frustrated I become.
What I would like from you all is to please look into what is happening within RSU 1. I would also ask that you please consider a repeal of LD-910 and restore local control to the towns. I look forward to your response and would be happy to meet with any or all of you. I am forwarding this email to Commissioner Bowen as well.
Regards,
Kyle Rogers
Kyle, I am an RSU1 Board member from Bath and I am appalled that you seem to not have contacted those in the know for your 'facts'. I certainly hope you will attend one of our RSU1 board meetings or public hearings on the budget to truly find out what is going on in RSU1. Your recent letter in the Times Record encouraged our local citizens to attend our budget meetings so they would be informed and that is beneficial to all.
ReplyDeleteYou included in your post many false statements such as:
* Town of Georgetown is part of RSU1
* multiple board members had only a few write in votes to be elected
* local control is non existent
* assumptions of new school in Woolwich impact to whole RSU
* building maintenance
* budget growth from $16M to $26M in 3 years - the $16 M was BATH budget ALONE when we were separate and the budget for 2010-11 currently is at $24.8M with all the RSU1 towns TOGETHER
* budget approval process is not described correctly
* class size data at Morse which you cite is not accurate and will be clarified at the board meeting on Wednesday (April 27) at West Bath School at 6pm.
Please come and hear the real story and learn the facts. We will have plenty of correct information for you.
We also have a public hearing on the budget on Thursday (April 28) at Bath Middle School at 6 pm. Please come and help us shape the proposed budget (which is not set yet). Thank you.
Julie L. Rice
All,
ReplyDeleteI don't hold any office or official position. My only titles in this discussion are "parent of 2 RSU1 students" and "taxpayer". I can only take a position on this topic based on the information I can come up with. As of now, I have a plethora of information put out by one gentleman (validity of which is unknown and now in question) and very little information coupled with challenges to the validity of the intial "facts" by one woman. Tough choice for someone who is not "in the know".
The solution seems simple for those of us who are interested and would like to form an educated opinion...
Ms. Rice, could you please provide the correct information, as you know it, to all the incorrect "facts" stated by Mr. Rogers? By simply listing all the incorrect statements (and providing little in the way of corrections) simply inflames the argument and leaves the reader in the cold.
Mr. Rogers, could you please revise your information or defend it by citing the sources of your information so that readers (i.e. parents and taxpayers) can consider your initial argument? Information only becomes fact when you can back it up.
Thanks in advance to both of you for trying to clarify the situation. Good day from sunny Bahrain.
Jason Warnke
Woolwich
Is it reasonable to request 4 years of school budget history? Can each town provide school budget totals for the past 4 year so that we can total the #’s and compare the budget over time? The total budget is now $26M. How has the total budget changed over a 4 year period? The goal of LD 910 was to “save money.” It seems that we need some historical data to determine if this goal was achieved. Did consolidation achieve the goal of cutting costs by $500,000 in the first year? This question should be answered with exact data. Each town should put together these figures for the public (total school budget pre and post LD 910). These figures need to be shared with our law makers to determine if LD 910 achieved the goal of cutting costs. As a taxpayer, I hope that these figures are released to the public.
ReplyDeleteJason, I would like to thank you for asking me to cite my sources. For the most part I got this information from faculty members and I will leave it at that. As you can imagine they are feeling the pressure right now from the union leadership. I truly don't believe that the School Board has done their best to save the tax payer dollars. I understand that there is a contract that was recently ratified between the school board and the union. That being said I can't believe that the school board didn't have the forethought to see what was happening economically in this area. They didn't realize that there was a very good chance that the stimulus, and other subsidies were all but gone? I was present at last nights meeting and there was a common thread in almost all of the public comments; We can't afford the proposed budget(s) and most were not happy about any tax increases. I would hope Ms. Rice heard that loud and clear. I applaud the faculty member who stood up and said that he is willing to take a pay freeze and that the union leadership should come back to the table.
ReplyDeleteI would like to point out that in my original email I placed Georgetown in Italics for a reason. I know that some of the children from Georgetown attend school in RSU 1. I didn't mean to say that they were part of the district.
As for the school board members and their election you can go and see the records at the Bath City Hall. As for the RSU budget process, please tell me what was incorrect. I also got that information from the Bath City Hall. There will be a public vote on May 31st. The public vote is required to send the budget to a referendum vote in June. Should the May 31 vote fail, then the entire public hearing process must take place again. If it passes and is placed on the ballot in June you can be assured that it will pass because of the expected low turn out. I sometimes wonder why they didn't place this referendum on the November ballot.
The Pre-K program, which Ms. Rice assured the Bath City Council would be funded via federal dollars is now an unfunded mandate place on the backs of the local tax payers. How could that be Ms. Rice? What happened to the federal money that was to pay for it. So now the RSU has started a program for which they can't afford. And my comments from that City Council meeting I stand by.
In the end Jason, I encourage everyone to do their own homework about where your tax dollars are being spent. My goal is clear, Please come out and vote NO on this school budget unless it includes a 0% increase or less.
Julie Rice #1
ReplyDeleteI am glad to give details as to why I say the information Mr. Rogers stated was inaccurate. I will include valuable data which Mr. Warnke and Anonymous requested as well. I will begin by giving more details to each of my points of false statements, but please bear with my need to post my complete response with multiple postings as this blog does not permit me to post as one comment. I will label as Julie Rice #1, #2, #3, and #4.
*Georgetown voted in November 2007 not to join the RSU, but their students do come to Morse and to Bath Middle School. Since they are coming now from ‘outside’ the RSU, Georgetown pays tuition for each student from their town to attend our RSU1 schools.
*We have now had three elections for RSU1 board of directors, and two times we have had write in candidates win the election. The first time, representing parts of Phippsburg and Bath in District 7, the write in candidate won the election with many votes, and many more than the printed candidate on the ballot. This recent election for the representative for parts of Arrowsic and Bath in District 6 was only a few write in votes. No one declared their candidacy for that district vacancy, yet some earned votes as a write-in. The person with the highest number of write-in votes and was interested in serving, was the new board member. We have staggered terms and so now each year in November we will have 2 (or one year there will be 3) opportunities for our citizens to declare themselves a candidate for the district which encompasses where they live.
*Local control is different than in the past, and I acknowledge that. One way it is functioning is through the School Advisory Group in each school. This brings parents, principal and community members together to discuss the school, sometimes it is good news or to focus on anything which could benefit from the discussion of this varied group. This group communicates to the board, and in some schools, with the community with a newsletter. This is a way to maintain the unique culture of each school. Not all SAGs operate the same and some are now just really getting their wheels as it was a new concept. Our monthly regular board meetings are moved from town to town on a rotating basis and we always welcome public comments as part of those meetings. Our agendas are always posted on the RSU1 website so it is clear which issues are to be discussed. With our budget development process, we have had 4 budget hearings/meetings on the proposed 2011-12 budget and have also listened to folks at our regular monthly board meeting during that time, too. We have had many people who were part of this process. Our 2 step budget approval process is one which is mandated by the state legislature. The 1st step is the regional budget town meeting. This is similar to a town meeting (familiar for all towns except for Bath) where we elect a moderator, and registered voters can speak on each warrant article (different cost centers), then we all vote, article by article, with raised hand. There is one secret vote taken at that budget approval meeting. This will be on Tuesday May 31st at Bath Middle School at 6 pm. With each warrant article passed one by one, we will come out of that session with a passed budget. But there is step #2- on June 2nd in each of our towns, the referendum vote on the already approved budget will be voted on at the polls. This year, even though not every town has something else to vote on that day, we do need to follow this state process and have our budget approved prior to the fiscal year start on July 1st, if possible. This process gives all voters in all our towns an opportunity to have a say in the RSU1 budget. We have 7 members of the Board of Directors and each member is a resident of our local RSU1 towns, representing parts of at least 2 communities. As described above, residents from any of our towns are eligible to run for a position on this board.
Julie Rice #2
ReplyDelete*The Woolwich (new School) Building committee, which started prior to the start of RSU1, completed enrollment projection studies of each of our area towns, as was mandated by the state committee which approves school building projects. The project is being built with the estimate of a small percentage of students beyond its recent total enrollment – it certainly will not accommodate a full school of students beyond the Woolwich student population. Often when a new school opens,families move to the town.
*Building maintenance is being accomplished by having a hard working, budget conscious director of maintenance. Prior to RSU1 formation, Bath schools’ maintenance did not receive much attention. They have now been updated so to comply with safety regulations and all our buildings have been on a scheduled plan for regular maintenance. I suggest you contact RSU1 Maintenance Director David Richards for any further details or information you may need. (443-6601 or drichards@rsu1.org )
*The total Bath school budget for 07/08 (pre RSU1 formation) was $17,554,303, with $7,641,476 in local dollars. The next year was the first year of the RSU, and Bath’s portion was $7,921,924, but would have been $9,086,829 if consolidation did not take place, according to the state printouts on required local payment to qualify for state subsidy.
For 09/10, Bath funding level was $7,796,147 (separate would have been $8,470,656). In 10/11, Bath funding level was $7,801,667 (otherwise would have been $8,282,253). I have the figures for local funding for Arrowsic, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich, but not the ‘what if not consolidate’ figures for those towns, but if you wish, the RSU1 Business Manager Ruth Moore (443-6601 or rmoore@rsu1.org ) would be willing to give those to you. I obtained all these numbers from Ms. Moore:
LOCAL FUNDS: 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11
Arrowsic $408,872 $426,932 $485,062 $406,371
Phippsburg $2,674,546 $2,929,598 $2,956,992 $2,847,011
West Bath $2,327,245 $2,452,429 $2,525,879 $2,509,932
Woolwich $2,551,563 $2,593,211 $2,680,368 $2,975,557
Separate towns’ school’s budgets added together for 07/08 (pre RSU1) = $28,711,547
Our TOTAL RSU1 budget over the years:
RSU1 $28,711,547 $25,226,648 $24,987,605 $24,854,292
Our RSU1 budget has decreased each year, yet each year we have experienced a drop in federal dollars and state dollars, but we need to maintain our education system for our children. We do not have an option of not providing a 4th grade class at a school, for example, just because the state does not fund us to do so.
*I described the state mandated school budget approval process above.
Julie Rice #3
ReplyDelete*Peter Kahl, Morse High Principal, has analyzed the class size numbers as Mr. Rogers reported (which came from a Morse teacher). Mr. Kahl studied the numbers, prepared a handout, explained to the board and public, and answered questions on this topic at Wednesday’s board meeting at West Bath School. Here it is for your benefit:
“There are currently 48 teachers at Morse High School. Each teacher teaches six sections (or classes) - 3 classes first semester and 3 classes second semester. That means over the course of a year there 288 classes built into the master schedule. Of those 288 classes, 66 of them have fewer than 13 students. This semester there are 34 classes that are CURRENTLY RUNNING that have 13 or fewer students in them. Last semester there were 32 classes with 13 or fewer students. Of those 66 classes, 45 of them are core classes, meaning students in those classes are receiving a credit that meets a core requirement for graduation. The other 21 classes are made up of electives, credit recoveries, math curriculum supports, writing labs, etc. These classes are taught by core teachers, but they are not core classes. They are in the schedule to ensure that students can recover lost credits, receive added support, or participate in high interest electives. Unlike many surrounding schools (Brunswick, Mt. Ararat, Freeport, Richmond, Greely), Morse teachers teach six classes. Those other schools only have their teachers teach five classes. These schools also give their teachers a full period for classroom preparation (usually 80 minutes a day as compared to the 40 minutes a day our teachers receive). With our staff teaching six classes a piece, it reduces class sizes because we offer 288 sections instead of 240 sections (48 teacher x 5 sections = 240).
At Morse, we are aware that we have under-enrolled classes which is why we are currently "right sizing" our teaching staff to match the dropping student enrollment. Next year Morse will have four fewer teachers resulting in the loss of 24 sections. With the reduction of four teachers, next year there will be fewer core classes offered, increasing class size. Also, some under-enrolled electives have been dropped, and there are no writing labs. There will still be credit recovery classes to ensure that students graduate on time, as well as year-long algebra and English classes. Those classes will always have fewer students. A fair estimate is that out of the 66 classes that currently have 13 or fewer students, that number will be reduced to 10 or less.”
Julie Rice #4
ReplyDeleteMr. Rogers’ false accusation of Julie Rice assuring the Bath City Council that the preK program would be funded with federal dollars is unfounded. I have gone back to my records of an email exchange with one city councilor who wanted my thoughts on the CHOICES program, our preK program. The City Council held a public hearing to discuss the application to the state Community Development Block Grant program (federal dollars) on behalf of United Way on April 1, 2009. This was to provide preK experience for some income eligible households. The state funding model for the rest of the program is a reimbursement type of model; we shell out the funds and get reimbursed the next year. If I made any such statement of assurance, I am sure it would be noted in the meeting minutes, but that is not the case, either.
As for the board being blind in the contract settlement, we were not so. That contract, the first contract for our RSU1 teachers, a merging of 4 contracts into one melting pot of salary scales, benefits and differences in contract language, took nearly 2 years to settle. We fought hard for the taxpayers throughout this negotiation. We ended with an extended mediation process. That should be a clear indication that we did see this economic cliff coming. The negotiation process prevents me from stating specific details of negotiations as it was not a public process.
Mr. Rogers’ suggestion of approving our budget for fiscal year July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012, in November 2011 is totally unworkable and irresponsible for our district. We must follow the state mandated budget approval process.
I have plenty of time to answer questions or listen to concerns, and sometimes I encourage folks to call a person better qualified to give the details. I will not continue this back and forth of accusations and suggestions which does not help the process. Please contact me by email if you need information. Thank you. Julie Rice, RSU1 Board Member, District 5 ricebath@myfairpoint.net
I hope that anyone who reads through the comment posted by Mr Rogers, and the detailed and factual replies by Ms Rice, will see that the former depends on half truths, unsubstantiated 'evidence', and lack of really looking for real answers. Mr Rogers seems to have a preordained opinion and will try to fit facts to support them, rather than the other way around. Cheers to Ms Rice for taking a lot of time and making the effort to track down real information, that can truly help and inform us citizens.
ReplyDelete--Charles Durfee
I would just like to know why the school board feels that they can keep spending while everyone else in the area seem to be suffering or having a difficult time making ends meet. When will you all learn that the well is dry? You can not keep asking the taxpayers of RSU 1 to support programs we can not afford. Ms Rice may have all the facts but without the conversation being presented the public would still be in the dark. I applaud Mr. Rogers for engaging the public in the process.
ReplyDeleteI can't see why people feel the need to post comments as "Anonymous said...". Why don't they identify themselves? It's not like someone will come after them in the night. This is a civilized community we live in, and each respects, or certainly should respect, others and differences of opinion. I find it very hard to respect any unsigned opinion. That said, I am,
ReplyDeleteCharles Durfee
In consideration of the the total amount of the budget, I am trying to figure out how much varying programs actually cost the taxpayers. For example, can someone from the board tell me 1. exactly how much the pre-K program costs each town?
ReplyDelete2. How about the high school laptop program? When these programs are clustered into one big number, it’s hard for the public to make a decision about each specific program. When the grant dollars or federal funding runs out, it seems that we just roll these programs into the budget and become unfunded mandates. Ultimately, teachers lose their job because we need to fund these programs. I feel that new programs that are added to the budget should be required to be “broken out” in the budget.
For example, does the pre-K program cost $5K/child (just a guess)? So, if we have 100 children in the program, does it cost taxpayers $500,000? How does this break down for each town? I think that it’s time that we start talking about the cost of specific programs.
Also, how does our K-12 per pupil spending compare to our pre-K per pupil spending? My assumption is that it is probably all lumped together to bring down our average per pupil spending. Some might say that there is a need for pre-k, I just question if we can afford it. How can we decide if we really have no idea how much it costs us? Maybe we can afford it..who knows! Do schools in Brunswick, Wiscasset, Richmond, SAD 75 offer this program?
Brunswick didn’t sign up for the high school laptop program, but we did. They decided that it would duplicate laptops to offer it to all students, as many students have a computer at home. They provide a laptop to only those students “in need.” Again we need to find out exactly how much how much this program costs. There are a lot of hidden costs w/the program (new wiring, repair technicians, insurance, etc.). Also, the RSU 1 laptops are probably reaching the end of the warranty period as is the case in a lot of districts. It begs the question is this is a wise investment for RSU 1?(especially because the state will probably stop funding the middle school program). Could we consider just providing laptops to only students that don’t have one at home and providing laptops on carts for class projects?
In response to Mr. Dufee...I agree with you and as you can see I will always take credit for my words.
Our nation continues to endure a difficult economy. If nothing else, this school budget has challenged many people to re-engage with local education. Can we capitalize on this interest and turn the tide for our students; money alone is not the answer. Clearly we need adequate funding to operate our schools. We also need parents and community members to be stakeholders in the process.
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult day of reckoning; regardless of personal financial integrity and discipline, most of our government programs have not modeled these traits and every citizen will pay the price. This shortfall is too great for any one population to bear; we must all be part of the solution.
Some of us can tolerate a modest tax increase, some can't – many retirees have not received a cost of living increase in a number of years, our teachers (RSU1) have only just emerged from the same, parents have been laid-off from jobs, state workers endure multiple furlough days and wage freezes -- most families are affected on multiple fronts and every penny is important and likely already spent. Many citizens are ill-equipped to shoulder even a small increase as necessary commodities like fuel, groceries, and electricity have escalated while their income has remained stagnant or declined. (Property taxes also affect subsidized housing -- the government will have to raise the taxes that fund subsidies to cover the roll-down increase in Section 8 benefits.) It isn’t possible to raise the property tax of only those that can actually afford it nor is it appropriate to expect citizens who have been good stewards of their monies to indulge and finance a government who has not.
In RSU1, our administration and school board have realized some savings as a result of consolidation but it is not enough. There are a number of issues, like the 4X4 schedule, consumable textbooks (EDM), student laptops, out-of-district school choice, etc that could be controlled and/or negatively impact learning but it is impossible to identify the real cost of these items in this budget. As proposed, this budget is “right-sizing” the faculty without regard to teacher/ed-tech performance. Does it make sense to lay-off quality teachers when our cumulative academic performance is below the state median; quality instruction is the one thing we can’t afford to reduce. Perhaps the class size issue is a distraction –local education has been restructured to create a better graduation metric but appears to be sacrificing quality, the last time Morse achieved total AYP was under a traditional schedule and precedes this administration, but our graduation rate has marginally improved. Clearly this schedule does not promote learning and is not cost effective; why are we still paying for it? Laptops for every middle and high school student – in most households this is duplicating hardware; couldn’t we save some costs here? Consumable textbooks — for a poorly rated program — really??? Is it fair or equitable to offer out-of-district tuition to some students but not all students?
The school board and administration have always been accountable to the public that funds them – it is tragic that citizens only become concerned with the board’s and administration’s endeavors when a tax increase is sought. Kudos to Councilman Rogers for asking tough questions, seeking details and accountability and to Board Member Rice for providing clarity. Thanks to the parent who weighed in to facilitate discussion between these elected officials. This is both painful and exciting – more than the handful of citizens routinely at school board meetings are now vested in the outcome. Our students will benefit from everyone coming together to identify the right budget, procure sufficient funding and plan for the future.
Sharon Dohner, parent & taxpayer in RSU1
The RSU 1 School Board voted to bring fourth a 2.5% increase in the school budget last night in a 5-2 vote. Thank you to Chet Garrison and Alan Walton for your decent votes.
ReplyDelete