Official Voting Results

[mkr]

http://www.fairfax-vt.gov/index.asp?SEC=FA6AEE5E-28A2-45B8-BF42-DE813B490352&DE=29B6E7B3-9203-4680-BECD-2FF39F41DB2E&Type=B_BASIC

[Rev. Elizabeth]

Thank you for the post.  It is somewhat disappointing to see how few people voted.

[nhibbard]

It's close to prior year. The ballot was so empty and why didn't the school budget pass?

[rod anode]

because there is still some good left in this world

[RidgeRunner]

What would you remove from the school budget Rod?

[rod anode]

pretty much everything that didn't pertain to learning real world stuff everything else let the parents pay for

[kevin]

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.  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.

[HayesFXFD17]

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.

[mkr]

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

[mkr]

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%

[cronsteel]

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?

[mkr]

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.

[cronsteel]

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

[mkr]

Completely agree Jesse...

[Stand Alone Defense]

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.