Relevant News:  NY Teachers Share in Recession's Pain (NYT) -as we know Lindsay Paul never gave them the chance.


See Video Below

The public hearing on the combined budget took place last night at Town Hall with a sparse crowd compared to last year.
 
Allen Walker presented the town side first with the 0% increase budget as directed by the BOF and took a couple of questions.

Next up was Lindsay Paul followed by Frank Baran with the presentation you have seen here before. Citizen participation was much more interesting on the BOE budget and relevant issues-

Problems with the School Readiness Grant

Tony Walker addressed a question to all concerned regarding a problem that has developed with the School Readiness Grant. This is a state grant bestowed upon the town in part for identification of special needs and mainstream children in external programs (Northwood & The Children’s Center) outside of the in-school Pre-K program mainly due to lack of space in that program as explained by the Superintendent, but managed by the BOE and a separate committee. It appears that the grant was mismanaged and spent too quickly, leaving the children in the lurch for the remainder of the year. Frank Baran stated that the program was now scheduled to end on April 24th rather than continuing due to an $18,000  (now reported to be $30K) shortfall. The Superintendent went into a long explanation and it appears he left out some very pertinent information. In naming the members of the committee he neglected to mention that he sits on it as well as does Trish Lustila- that’s just for starters.

A source close to the situation reports that the State has directed him to cough up the $18,000 $30K to continue the program and that he has refused to do so, choosing instead to engage the attorneys in an apparent attempt to evade responsibility- more on this situation as it reveals itself. Considering the expected upcoming spending bounce as seen in the past, he can’t find the money for the benefit of the kids that was mismanaged on his watch? I wonder what toys we’ll see in the spending spree this round…

In my opinion, the most revealing body language of the evening was that when answering questions from citizens, Frank did not have the courtesy to turn and face the citizens and answered face front with his back turned to the audience- just plain rude for a public hearing.

Transportation Games

Buses are in…buses are out…but one is in this year…

Mr. Shultz inquired as to why he has not received an answer to his letter from a couple of months ago as directed by Mr. Hosmer of the BOF. See it -HERE-. The answer was that the “answers are being developed”. Nearing 3 months in development? I just can’t wait- this should be a beauty!

Other Issues

Dave Richardson hit a number of points including, but not limited to, the current student teacher ratios comparing the PK-8 at 12.1 to 1 to WA at 14.5 to 1 and the State averages which are very near the WA ratio.

He also touched on Mr. Hosmer’s statements from last week reiterating that next year could be worse than this year with regard to revenue and that the ~$217,000 left over from the Elementary School project that is being utilized to cover the shortfall won’t be there next year, furthering the possibility of a deeper dip into the unreserved fund or potential tax increases.

Another item of note acknowledged by everyone, is that the ARRA funds that the BOE budget is heavily reliant on go away after two years, so in effect we are just kicking the can down the road rather than addressing the root of these issues though management efficiency.

Speaking of efficiency, by request a few weeks ago we received a copy of the Superintendent’s contract. See it -HERE-.

I found it curious that one of Mrs. Paul’s new catch phrases is that the “administration manages our school system very efficiently”. I’ve heard this quite a lot over the last number of meetings and when I reviewed Frank Baran’s contract, I now can guess why. It just so happens that there is an efficiency clause in the contract by which he can be dismissed for lack thereof. Hmmmmm.

And finally, from the ‘if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BS’ school of thought- Mrs. Paul couldn’t leave well enough alone with regard to her false statements about the average teacher salaries and rankings revealed -HERE-, attempting to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the simple equation of calculating an average, then in the same breath, saying that the teachers are not underpaid. Needless to say, it flew like a lead balloon just like last time…

Video -HERE- 1:25 Requires Media Player