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Messages - Robin F
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1
« on: April 01, 2010, 02:07:38 PM »
Mummy,
See my response to your post in the Fund Raisers section.
2
« on: February 27, 2010, 06:42:18 PM »
Dave, Dave, Dave ...
I know you were being sarcastic, but if one reads my post in the previous topic: I said "many people," not all. I don't pass judgment; I stated my opinion. My opinion is that most people who do not go to Town Meeting simply do not care enough to go. I did not say they were bad people for not going. There will always be some who want to go but can't for some reason beyond their control. There will likely be people who want to vote on Tuesday who do not make it for some reason out of their control (car accident, emergency at home/work, etc.). There currently does not exist a system where absolutely everyone who wants to vote on any item will be guaranteed the ability to gather the information needed and vote on that item. However, that may come in the relatively near future as technology is changing many things.
I think it is a great idea to record the the Town and School presentations so people who do not go can watch it before they cast a vote. That should not be too taxing to implement. Definitely something to keep in mind for next year.
Dave, I hope your wife gets better soon.
3
« on: February 22, 2010, 05:13:36 PM »
I have to agree with those who say that it is really an issue of priority for many people. While there are some who have legitimate reasons why they cannot make it (work commitments are an issue and I think that child care is an issue for some, although it is likely also an excuse for many people), for most people I think it is just a function of the fact that they are not interested enough in attending to make it a priority.
I am not originally from Vermont, and where I grew up there is no such thing as "Town Meeting." But, I have gone to Town Meeting every year I have lived in Vermont because I think it is a great tradition and the best way (short of actually attending every Board meeting) to become informed about the items we are actually voting on. When I get home, I relay the information to my wife, who is watching our kids during the meeting, so she can get as much of the information as she can (she usually also gives me some questions she wants answered before I go to the meeting). Perhaps there should be a ceiling on the amount of expenditure that can be authorized from the floor, but for the most part I think that if the items we vote on at the Meeting were truly important to that many people, more would come to the meeting itself instead of complaining afterward.
4
« on: November 13, 2009, 09:51:09 AM »
Dave: Here is the Youth Basketball website: http://www.ffybball.com/The website says that 1-4 grade signups are 12/1 and 12/2.
5
« on: May 04, 2009, 09:24:02 AM »
Notwithstanding the back and forth above:
Correct me if I am wrong Gary, but doesn't the property tax already have an income sensitivity part to it? That is, if your household income is below a certain amount ($90,000 is what sticks in my head), you pay property taxes as a percentage of income at a graduated rate. The family in your example which owns a $200,000 home, if they make $45,000 per year, is very likely already paying the maximum amount possible for their property tax bill, with the rest being sent as a rebate directly to the town (that's why everyone should fill out the Homestead forms with their taxes). The tax rate would have to be very, very low to not hit the percentage of income cap on a $45,000 household income with a $200,000 home.
So, if they are already paying the maximum amount, unless the Governor's proposal changes this calculation in some way, an increase in property taxes will not have any effect on them at all, versus a $27 hit for the income tax suggestion. It seems then that the Governor's proposal is already protecting the lower income families by virtue of the protections already built in to the property tax statutory scheme. I do not always necessarily buy in to the "let's tax the rich" knee jerk reaction that always seems to happen when economic times are bad, but if the argument is that we need to protect those who are already struggling, the Governor's suggestion seems better.
Am I missing something?
6
« on: April 13, 2009, 10:20:06 AM »
Big thank you should go to Katrina and Patricia Hendee from Success by Six for planning and running this event. They both put in a good deal of time and energy in making this happen for the community, including spending all morning at the RecPark setting up and taking down the event. All the kids looked like they had a great time and the weather was perfect.
7
« on: March 04, 2009, 11:43:31 AM »
Before I begin this reply, I need to stress that I am a Fairfax School Board member although I do not mean for this reply to speak for anyone on the Board but myself, and certainly not for the Board as a whole. That being said, I only intend with this comment to clarify certain facts related to Susie's initial post, not discuss full-day kindergarten as a whole. I do not feel that it is necessarily appropriate to give my personal opinions regarding this issue on this forum as other Board members may feel required to do so as well and there are potential Open Meeting law implications if Board members discuss Board issues without an Open Meeting notice. I would be happy however to speak with anyone further who wishes to discuss it.
1) The number cited by Sam Hemingway in his Free Press article for the cost of full-day was inaccurate. The final cost figure for this year for full-day kindergarten, as best as the administration could calculate it, was just north of $48,000 when everything was factored in. That would just be the cost for the 2010 fiscal year. Future years could be higher or lower depending on teacher retention (salaries go up every year but a new teacher may make less than a previous one) and the level of additional support required for that particular kindergarten class (this next year had no anticipated 1on1 paraprofessionals required but other years might). Transportation costs and other factors also fluctuate year to year and could result in more or less expense in any given year.
2) I did not see the WCAX story so I don't know what was reported there, but a comparison with the Harford program does not appear to be apples to apples. The Valley News published on 1/13/09 an article about potential full-day kindergarten in Hartford and Norwich. In Hartford, it stated that the cost for the first year would be $290,000, due to several factors, but importantly it also stated that the move would have doubled the amount of state aid that the school received for the program and it would have paid for itself within 4 years. To the best of my knowledge, that is not the case with the program we initially included in our budget. This is an area to look at in the future. Also, the Valley News article stated that a parent survey indicated that 80% of parents who responded supported the idea. To the best of my recollection, a similar survey done here 2 or 3 years ago indicated parental support of only approximately 52-55% (not sure the exact figure as it has been a while since I heard the results).
3) The reasons for the cuts made to the initially approved budget, including full-day kindergarten, were numerous and well thought out, with the extraordinary help of the administrators. While Gov. Douglas' call was of course a consideration, in the end the cuts were made based purely and simply upon the state of economy in which we as a nation and a town find ourselves. The Board essentially decided to eliminate all planned expansion of programming, regardless of what it was, as well as other cuts. The changes that were made were basically to winnow next year's budget as much as possible with two guides - we did not want to cut any current programming and we did not want to let anyone go right now as a result of the budget (although this is still unfortunately a possibility as we have not yet been presented with revenue numbers from the state).
4) This issue is not a dead issue, and I am sure that we will consider it again next year. While the decision not to include full-day kindergarten as a separate article was done for several reasons, I personally have heard numerous people in town explain that they would prefer it as a separate article and we will likely consider that option again next year. Of course, I urge everyone to attend Board meetings and voice their opinion, whatever it happens to be.
Robin Freeman
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