Town of Winchester, NH
Budget Committee
December 16, 2010
Members Present: Ken Gardner, Elisha Jackson, Jacqui Beaman, Ted Ryll, Jack Mash, Hubie Crowell, Harvey Serian, Kevan Whippie, Rick Horton, Kathy Hebert, Trevor Croteau, Rikki Bolewski (Clerk)
Others Present: Dr. Gassau, Tom O’Connor, Principal Jim Lewis, Assistant Principal Pamela Bigelow
Meeting called to order at 7:06pm
Statement was made last week, when presenting this budget, that it was a “bare bones” budget. Jack questions that, with a $900,000 increase in the asking budget, what happens if it goes to default. Concern is that SAU budget has always been a warrant article and is now in the budget. With the budget being a bottom line budget, there is the ability to move things around; concern is that money from services could be taken away to pay for SAU.
Discussion regarding Tuition to Keene High, question as to how many students.
129 Reg. Ed. Students @ $11,793
60 Sp. Ed Students @ $21,847
( why are there so many "special Ed" kids in Winchester ?)
- Summer programs – Sp. Ed. Year round programs (i.e. Residential Facilities)
5 Public, 17 Private – These are Sp. Ed tuitions that are not at Keene High
- Discussion regarding whether or not someone who is doing two part-time positions will be paid benefits – it is being looked into. Also, what about a position that is being shared between Winchester and Hinsdale as a full-time position – who is paying benefits
- Discussion regarding the breakdown of the Superintendent position and how the salary compares to other similar size school districts in the state
- 3 days a week as Superintendent, 1 day a week as Sp. Ed. Director, and in Surry 3 days a month (will be getting Return Revenue from this portion)
Wondering where our obligation is to Surry. Some of our positions seem to be being made into full-time position to accommodate assistance to Surry
SAU positions that are open will be posted. Question as to whether the people who have already been put in place were guaranteed these proposed salaries
There are letters of intent for the people in the current SAU that they want for these positions.
Discussion regarding office housing for new SAU. ( what will this cost? )
Discussion regarding substitutes budget – is up $10,000; what is the reason? Budget is based on current years actual
Discussion regarding SAU budget. Were under the assumption that it was at about $488,000. Came across more lines in the budget that committee was under the assumption that were included in the SAU budget that total over $200,000. This brings that budget to about $700,000. Are we budgeting twice for these items or is it really that high? Kevan will look into
Discussion about Language; state recommends that the school offer a language. Looking into what language to offer; hasn’t been offered for the past two years due to budget and finding the right person who will work part-time. Also looking at how they will fit into the budget
Discussions about some of the programs the school is offering to help students who may need some extra help
Jack makes a motion to adjourn, Kevan seconds
Meeting adjourned at 9:25pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Rikki Bolewski
Next meeting will be held Tuesday, December 28, at 7pm in the Winchester School Library
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By the looks of things, this year's property tax break was a charade to lull us all into thinking things in Winchester may have turned around; but as you can see, we're in for a rocky ride come next tax bill, what a mess and only 149 registered voters turned out. Rumor has it that by the time they are done, we could be looking at an increase of around $5.00/thousand, think about that.
13 comments:
Keep in mind that the voters that turned out for last years deliberative, the majority of them work for the school system. And readily passed everything.
In fact, Kevin Whippie made a motion at the beginning of the meeting, that there be only ONE vote to approve all of the Warrant Articles at once.
The GOOD news is that the Town Clerk Jim T. has told the Budget Committee that he can schedule the School Deliberative on the Saturday following the town's deliberative session. As everyone knows, Thursday night makes it hard for the working class to be able to attend.
The BAD news - Dr. C has said "NO WAY, they will just bring all their friends to the meeting to shoot down the budget." Gee - who pays his salary? Could it be "their friends" the TAX PAYERS?
The budget committee voted to ask that the school meeting be held on a Saturday. This would hopefully increase the amount of voters that would attend. The budget committee was very upset with the proposed budget and hopes that voters will turn out to support cuts. The SAU repeatedly ignored requests to provide the default budget figure over the course of several meetings. With the exception of the school's lone vote at the budget meetings, not one member of the committee supported the proposed budget. It's time to get a handle on the tax rate in Winchester.
Having attended this deliberative, I am hard pressed to believe there were that many people in attendance. Maybe half that number.
There was an even smaller number for the Budget hearing.
People, please bear in mind the Dr. C works for us. We pay his salary. Part of his obligation to the school is to attend meetings and if we want a meeting set on Saturday then we can have the meeting on Saturday. If he does not wish to accomodate the town remember that there are other super's out there that would be happy to do the job.
Once again the power of the voting box will prevail. My question to the board is why didn't Kevin recuse himself during the budget hearings as his wife is a teacher?
SCHOOL Budget Hearing is Tomorrow night
Tuesday, January 11, 2010 at 7 PM at the school.
PLEASE attend!
Unfortunately, our town has a LOT of ostriches: People who are convinced that if they keep their heads in the sand everything will go away. Sorry folks, but its not! Get involved and show up in numbers. Join your neighbors and let your voice be heard.
Do we really need a special aid for every "coded" child? Do we really want to "rehire" Dr. C as our Superintendent. How much is he paying himself? And is he worth it? Do you really know the School Board members and what they are doing and achieving? Or are they listening to only one person?
The State can not afford to give Winchester the same amount of funding that they have in the past. Will that hurt us? You bet it will!
Come and listen and vote!
Our School budget is out of control, too much waste and most of the budget money goes to the top heavy administration and school staff; not our kids. Time to get the budget committee to trim all the fat of this donkey and make some real cuts. As for juggling money around in our town budget to pay for salaries and perks for administration staff and teachers and other, we should take a page from Keenes book and start cutting some of this staff, not hiring more. If we don't have a home to raise our kids in what the hell good is a schooling system, who will attend?
We need to be aware of the number of students that are enrolled in the school. The last time I read the town report it looked as though we had as many aides (paras) as teachers. Since when do we need an assistant principal. We have a guidance counselor, social worker and principal. Pay attention to the "administrative costs." The 1/2 time super should just be paid for 1/2 time. The costs of sharing admin must be verified carefully.
You are correct in wondering how many coded children we have. It makes one wonder if there is job security in being a special education teacher. As a previous poster as indicated we need to borrow a page from Keene and Monadnock and start to cut positions if warranted. We have no clue what we will get for state aid and the recession is not over.
Sounds like the inmates are running the asylum. Typical for Winchester.
There will be no state aid this year, their budget is in a worse mess than ours. Besides we have already seen how they have responded to the Supreme Court order to pay for an adequate education; they put the onus on the taxpayers of New Hampshire. I say cuts are in order starting at the top, trim the fat cats, their relatives and others not needed and reign in this bloated cash cow.
This has to be reined in. Our taxes can't go up. Those of us who actually pay taxes rather than rent or live on welfare are over burdened as it is. We need to address the special education issue/extra aides in this town and the system that makes Winchester the #1 "no child left behind town". The schools can no longer shoulder the burden of the lack of good "parenting" that produces kids who require extra attention. The school committee folks and the new/old SAU staff need to wake up and see that there are fewer and fewer homeowners left to foot the bill!!!! The powers that be in this town need to wake up and see the reality that we need to CUT budgets like the rest of the country not RAISE them in a town poorer than poor where people who used to have good jobs could afford their houses but are now without jobs, losing their homes and starving. HEY school board SAU staff and teachers have you looked at how many houses are for sale on Parker Street on your way to work????? Be grateful you have a job and don't be greedy and expect more!!!!! We can't afford your selfishness. Sharpen your pencils and then sharpen them again and get real!!!
The word around town, is that the school board has decided to not honor the request for a Saturday school meeting. Guess they are a little worried that the working people might show up and vote down that bloated budget. That budget is up nearly a million dollars over last year's. The school board is working for the SAU, not the taxpayers. Guess they don't read the Sentinel, where front page articles about how other towns are being financially responsible are appearing daily.
http://www.sentinelsource.com/articles/2011/01/12/news/local/free/id_424268.txt
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