BFA SCHOOL BUDGET REVOTE INFORMATION

[lena6]

Maybe teachers should pay for most of their own insurance etc..  As for the iPads at school, they should be put where the sun don't shine. I hope I don't have to explain that remark to anyone.  As for kids in school, my 2 sons graduated from BFA.  I now have 5 grandsons there and one at Essex Tech.  The teachers don't have to discipline the kids.  Let's send them to the planning room.  LETS get rid of the planning room.  Teachers do have it easier now than 20 years ago and more pay. 

[Stand Alone Defense]

It bothers me when people don't live up to their contracts.  We have a contract with the teachers that I believe we should uphold.  If we feel things need to be changed, negotiations on the next contract is where that should happen.  I've been watching kids in and out of the school, and I have a real problem with the whole Ipad issue.  My opinion is that the Ipad is toy for most of the kids, and a babysitter for teachers that want quiet time.  How much money have we spent buying Ipads and laptop since the beginning of that program?

I wasn't given the option to "renegotiate" my contract after I enlisted.

con·tract

noun

noun: contract; plural noun: contracts

/ˈkänˌtrakt/

1. a written or spoken agreement, esp. one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.

When you enlisted you weren't promised a raise every year either.  Work hard and move up was your only choice or they boot you out for not making rank.... Unless you are in the guards. 

[Stand Alone Defense]

Maybe teachers should pay for most of their own insurance etc..  As for the iPads at school, they should be put where the sun don't shine. I hope I don't have to explain that remark to anyone.  As for kids in school, my 2 sons graduated from BFA.  I now have 5 grandsons there and one at Essex Tech.  The teachers don't have to discipline the kids.  Let's send them to the planning room.  LETS get rid of the planning room.  Teachers do have it easier now than 20 years ago and more pay. 

I agree with you there Lena6!! While it is important to keep up with technology it shouldn't be used to replace basic skills like writing.  I was under the impression that the Ipads were all bought on grant money from the federal government though.. i.e. some senator owns a lot of stock in Apple and wanted to boost his retirement at the tax payers expense lol.

[tfence]

My children have graduated from BFA and I plan on my grandchildren attending BFA. I am not sure why that is an issue.
 I have recently been informed that the state has put a good few mandates on the school without any money attached to them. Leaving the bill up to us in the form of our school tax. That raises the point. Where do we get a say in this? As far as I see it, the only thing we have is the vote on the school budget to make our point that it is costing to much. We cant let it go through every year at this rate. We have to vote it down every now and then. I believe the ipads are an important tool in the schools nowadays and I believe the savings in books, stationary ect do reduce the actual cost of these ipads. I do think there should be a lot more monitoring and less entertainment use on them. It is a tool not a toy. I also think for a lot of people, they would not mind paying a little more for the school budget if the school was performing way above average. For it increases property values and desireability for a town.

[7F24]

Josh...my point is not what is in a contract, it's that a contract is a contract.

Tom...I believe kids do better in school if they spend more time with books, and less time playing games on their Ipads.

[nhibbard]

The iPads are being treated as shiny toys. It's optional to use them. If we're paying for them and the State is moving toward digital testing as a reason to have them, then all teachers need to use them. But they are not, which means the primary reason for having them in not valid. Having access to technology does not promote nor ensure understanding of that technology. Just by putting a computer in someones hand, they are not going to understand computers better. I'm making the poor assumption that many teachers have no idea how a computer "works".  I'm sure they know how to type and how to use applications, but that is a far cry from the full potential. I never had an iPad until a few years ago yet I knew exactly how it worked. I never had my own computer in school but that never stopped me from researching and learning about them. We should be promoting thinking and understanding, not just utilization. What training are the teachers receiving? Why aren't all classes using the iPad as a core instrument? What benchmarks were made to determine success? It sounded like there were none other than spend money on technology and be happy when people come look at our model. We won't compare our results to non iPad to determine if these are beneficial. A trial implies that you will accept or reject based upon set criteria. What are those criteria? Staff can't seem to point to benefits to students other than teachers get papers back faster and they can look things up. Is there any teaching of how to critically review information on the internet?

I fully support technology in all forms. More than that I support a greater stress on critical thinking. No, getting rid of this program solves no major budgetary issues. But then again, any cuts to this program would be just as large as anything the school board could think of. A $12 million budget and less than $60,000 in revised cuts. A large majority of those cuts coming from the Supervisory Union, not the schools. I'm happy with this school system, I voted yes to the first budget. But if the majority of people voted no, I'm sure going to listen a lot harder than $60,000.

Finally, to those who did not vote but now are telling the school board to keep the budget that was voted down: there is an absentee ballot, the polls are open for 12 hours on voting day, the budget was available online prior to voting, the date for voting was known for a long time. To not vote is irresponsible, to suggest that a board ignore those who took the time to come out and express the civic duty and opinions is just unbelievable. For a board member to think that this was voted down because the amount was not enough when a large number of cities and towns had the same thing happen due to budget concerns is blind. I'm thankful that Henry has given us all a great forum to debate this topic from both sides.

Please come out and vote on the 10th. Let you opinion be known, if you disagree with the budget, you need to let them know why. Voting no and not expressing why doesn't allow our officials to constructively adjust their budget. And please, next year, VOTE THE FIRST TIME. If you don't vote, please don't tell elected officials to ignore those who did vote.

[tfence]

This is why we need to start somewhere. This is only the beginning. http://www.wcax.com/story/25157355/vt-house-approves

[RidgeRunner]

This is why we need to start somewhere. This is only the beginning. http://www.wcax.com/story/25157355/vt-house-approves

This is actually a reduction to their originally forecasted 7 cent increase, still an increase but 4 cents instead of 7 cents.

[lena6]

I wonder if people that don't have kids inn school realize the kids don't know how to write.. It is not taught. An iPad cannot sign your name for you.

[nhibbard]

I agree Lena.

[Watchman]

Anyone know what items are included in the budget heading called general instruction? Does this include ipads, MacBook Pros, tech support people, etc. and teacher salaries all lumped together? Is there a way to break out these unrelated categories and track them back a few years? Is there an advantage or a disadvantage to taxpayers to use this approach?

[Family of 5]

With local schools (and local school boards), I love that we can request this type of information and analyze how our dollars are being spent! 

I wanted to share a recent article from the Milton Independence that details how this will be going away come 2016 (to be more accurate, our right to ask will still be the same, but the responsiveness and level of detail will probably be significantly diminished!).

For those of you concerned about "Common Core" and the disconnect with schools today, please read this article about District Consolidation: http://www.miltonindependent.com/at-the-crossroads

[Watchman]

It's easy to ask for information. The challenge is getting a response. That's what makes me suspicious. If there is nothing to hide then they should be forthcoming with specific information.

[RidgeRunner]

Have you requested this information in an official manner other than this forum?

[Watchman]

Perhaps I've deviated from the forum where Rachel was asking for questions. I assumed that since FWSU started this forum then they would be providing answers to questions.