Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: mkr on March 05, 2014, 12:20:27 PM
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http://www.fairfax-vt.gov/index.asp?SEC=FA6AEE5E-28A2-45B8-BF42-DE813B490352&DE=29B6E7B3-9203-4680-BECD-2FF39F41DB2E&Type=B_BASIC (http://www.fairfax-vt.gov/index.asp?SEC=FA6AEE5E-28A2-45B8-BF42-DE813B490352&DE=29B6E7B3-9203-4680-BECD-2FF39F41DB2E&Type=B_BASIC)
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Thank you for the post. It is somewhat disappointing to see how few people voted.
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It's close to prior year. The ballot was so empty and why didn't the school budget pass?
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because there is still some good left in this world
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What would you remove from the school budget Rod?
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pretty much everything that didn't pertain to learning real world stuff everything else let the parents pay for
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Here is a link to the school budget - http://budget.fwsu.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/group_files.phtml?parent=20055849&gid=2213581&sessionid=c5522fdc7584a988634c99d85f331503 (http://budget.fwsu.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/group_files.phtml?parent=20055849&gid=2213581&sessionid=c5522fdc7584a988634c99d85f331503). I'd love to see what you pick out as not being real world stuff. As a parent I'd be curious to see what you would have me pay for.
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I am pretty sure Ed doesn't even live in Fairfax, just likes to stir the pot so I wouldn't get too worked up over it. More important things in life than mindless banter.
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Here is the 2015 Budget for the school info. I also grabbed the wrong one earlier.
http://budget.fwsu.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/group_files.phtml?parent=23773496&gid=2213581&sessionid=54ca37b9fb05d51c0b0e2a6ea1414a9c (http://budget.fwsu.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/group_files.phtml?parent=23773496&gid=2213581&sessionid=54ca37b9fb05d51c0b0e2a6ea1414a9c)
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Can anyone on here explain this:
FWSU ASSESSMENT
2012-13 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Budget Actual Budget Budget
FWSU ASSESSMENT 594,081 594,081 611,903 611,903
FWSU SPECIAL ED SERVICES - - - 608,730
FWSU SLP SERVICES - - 231,906 238,175
FWSU AUDIT ASSESSMENT - - - 7,750
-------------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Total FWSU ASSESSMENT 594,081 594,081 843,809 1,466,558 73.80%
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If I remember it right from the board meeting, there was some reshuffling and reorganization of staff- if you check up a couple of pages under the special education section you'll see that department has been reduced by 23%, and is no longer responsible for the teacher's salaries. I think that cost has been moved district wide, which would explain most of the increase in FWSU assessment and the decrease in Special Education. My disclaimer is that I didn't take notes, and I don't know for sure, but looking over the numbers it's what makes sense to me.
Personally, I'm not sure why the budget was defeated- I haven't heard from anyone what the major sticking points were, which would be good to know if the school board is going to readdress the budget. Any ideas on what folks didn't like?
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Correct Cronsteel.
I had a friend ask the school and got the answer, which she already thought she knew as well , but wanted to doubled check.
"ok so the 73.80% increase is the state has mandated that the special ed services be paid out thru the FWSU the SLP's (Speech and Language Teachers) pay started last year and this year it the special ed. if you look on page 89 under special education the line teachers salary is now blank --Its not that school doesn't reimburse FWSU its just moved to a different budget line."
My understanding from some people I have spoken to is any rise in people's taxes is the trouble. You have to understand there are a lot of people getting 0% raises, paying more for their own benefits, just struggling day to day now and the School Budget makes up a large chunk of our taxes. I don't think it is a personal attack on the school, just people don't have anymore money to give. Of course this is just what I have heard from some.
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Well, I can certainly emphasize with that.
I guess my question was more a "what comes next" kind of thing. There's a $700,000 difference between the 2013-1014 budget and the proposed 2014-2015 one. If the town gets together and decides that trimming the budget down is what they want to do, that's going to mean some tough choices to trim even half. I'm assuming that the board will be having another meeting soon to get some public input into the process- I guess I would just encourage everyone to mark the date and time and try to make the meeting.
Best,
Jesse
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Completely agree Jesse... :-)
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My understanding from some people I have spoken to is any rise in people's taxes is the trouble. You have to understand there are a lot of people getting 0% raises, paying more for their own benefits, just struggling day to day now and the School Budget makes up a large chunk of our taxes. I don't think it is a personal attack on the school, just people don't have anymore money to give. Of course this is just what I have heard from some.
That's what I have gathered too MKR. From the people I have spoken with they have no direct issues with the school it is just the rise in taxes. With our current economic climate most peoples wages have been frozen for the last 3 plus years and some people have hard feelings about their "taxes being raised so some already well paid teachers can get a pay increase".
I don't know what teachers are paid at our school or how that works into the budget to be honnest, that's just what I have heard.
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extra curricular .theres 250 grand right there,what is the planning room????theres another 150 grand...TUITION REIMBURSEMENT.gone,,,,,there I just cut 1 million in 10 seconds.hey chief my kid goes there to so don't pull the race card on me
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You could take it item by item or by percentage. Another option is to freeze at the old rate or take the savings, whichever is lower. Some departments had substantially higher salary increases than others.
We could go with a 1.6% overall increase which was CPI for the last calendar year.
There are tons of ways to micromanage the budget but what is the magic number that people were shooting for. If it's salaries, do we look at when staff got increases and adjust by that. Salary savings would save across a few line items because of taxes and benefits.
Do we not put more money into capital items and see if the building maintains or degrades?
Which of these budget lines are contracts that are fixed and which can actually be adjusted? It's fine to say no but if they lock into fuel costs, you can't budget less than what was contracted. You also shouldn't contract for less consumption than the prior 3 year average.
Why did contracted services go up so much for Guidance, that's a large increase that could be a savings, but again, micromanagement of line items.
I can go line by line and shot in the dark eliminating costs all day but I didn't attend the budget meetings as I'm sure many in Town did not either based on what I see at meetings. I'm not saying anything about the time one has available, they have email and all the notice possible was made. I'm not sure how to justify to a group of grown adults the process of making a budget only to have it shot down for no apparent reason other than the assumption it's too much. If you have a number, lay it out, don't beat around the bush with no constructive comments. People want more money, this is them asking, if you disagree say why. Feel free to say, "I don't want to pay staff more, I don't think the physical condition of the facilities is that bad, I don't think we need this program or that". But be prepared to stand by you decision if cutting salaries affects competent staffing or building deterioration.
Since this budget didn't pass, my suggestion is a 1.6% increase as the ceiling. Take all the savings that are realized and freeze salaries as necessary. Leave physical building improvements as presented. I believe my ceiling is $12,315,136. That is 1.6% CPI over that last budget, by taking savings the number will be lower, adjust salaries up to the ceiling split evenly between all staff.
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I agree
Since this budget didn't pass, my suggestion is a 1.6% increase as the ceiling. Take all the savings that are realized and freeze salaries as necessary. Leave physical building improvements as presented. I believe my ceiling is $12,315,136. That is 1.6% CPI over that last budget, by taking savings the number will be lower, adjust salaries up to the ceiling split evenly between all staff.
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I encourage you to attend the School Board meeting on Monday, March 10th
http://www.vtgrandpa.com/forum/index.php?topic=17375.0 (http://www.vtgrandpa.com/forum/index.php?topic=17375.0)