School Budget Voted Down By 1 Vote

[Henry]

By a vote of 287 No and 286 Yes, the school budget was voted down today.

I bet a few people wish they had gone and voted.

[nhibbard]

So where was that extra support that was talked about at the last school budget meeting. Maybe this time they will assume we wanted the original budget and these cuts were too much. Or maybe sanity will prevail and they'll look at actual reductions.

[RidgeRunner]

They can't, a contract was signed and it can't be changed without renegotiation, the only option  the board has is to reduce staff.

[ohhman]

Then maybe that is where they need to cut rather than take from the students.  Does seem off when student numbers are less but staff is up, according to an article in the messenger this week by a Fairfax resident.

[RidgeRunner]

So what program gets cut?  Math, English, arts, science, music what dont we want in iur school?

[nhibbard]

Cut the new admin position. Cut iPads. Tell us what other initiatives the have that can be reduced. Then make sure there is real change in the next contract. They need to put real numbers to each program and then we can talk about what we suggest. Everything is lumped now so unless you made the budget you can't suggest much unless you know a program that has too much overhead.

[Stand Alone Defense]

This is horrible, not that the budget got voted down. The horrible part is the fact that we as a town are maxed out. We cannot afford more taxes. I believe that we are the last community that wanted to vote a school budget down but in reality we have to.  Folks we just don't have the money. Please I beg the School board to come up with smart, creative, decent decisions that do not include just threatening our children. Go to the union and ask for pay freezes like we all have had. Look at smart ways to get things done. I ask all to not go down the negative us vs them attitude and lets come up with smart resolutions to this probelm that the state obviously wont fix.

YES!! Well put!! I find it funny that they always threaten to take from the students when cuts are needed....never from the administration side.   

[Rev. Elizabeth]

What is sad is that 287 voted no, and 286 voted yes and that gives us a grand total of 573 voters, essentially equally divided between yay and nay. There is strong support for neither side of the issue.  Only 573 people took the time to vote. Think about that.  People risked their lives, literally, to vote in Afghanistan this past weekend, and despite being given another chance to get out and vote, the total number of voters is lower ( if my memory serves me well) than the first vote. I don't really know how to think about this. It is discouraging to say the least.

[trussell]

Yes, less than 600 voters voiced their opinion.  And I think I can fairly say that many people simply don't have a stong opinion either way and/or just don't care enough to vote.  I'm glad I did and would like to urge everyone to express their concerns and WHY they voted the way they did to the school board.  Not on the forum, not on Facebook, but write a letter to the board or attend a meeting.  If you want change, complaining about it isn't going to do any good (I'm not targeting anyone, that's just a general statement).  Don't keep rehashing the problem, come up and present a solution.

Thanks and enjoy this sunny day!

[nhibbard]

I agree Trevor. We need to know what programs cost and what they do.

[rod anode]

boy am I glad I voted

[logical]

I've seen a lot of comments indicating we should cut the iPads.  Although I agree that they should not be utilized as the main form of instruction, I also believe they should not be cut.  From a learning aspect they are a great tool (yes, tool.  not to replace instruction from teachers).  The basics should still be taught first - reading, writing, math.  Additionally, I suspect if you break down from a budget aspect you will see that it doesn't really save our taxpayers a lot (if any) $$ in the long run.  Without the iPads the school would have to go back to purchasing text books (sometimes updating them on annual basis), as well as paper, workbooks, etc. 

It seems like the passing of our school budget is contingent upon renogiating the teachers contracts.  I realize that would not be easy or maybe not even possible.  However, just wondering has that option even been considered?

[nhibbard]

iPads were never a book replacement. The never will be. Even colleges have evaluated that. So the money saved would not be costing more directly as stated.  Salaries haven't been discussed as a contingency. It was made clear those were not an issue. That means they need to cut elsewhere. That means almost ipads and such. It also means the contracts being negotiated need to be more realistic.

[mkr]

It is funny that they say it was made clear it is not an issue on salaries and that is what appears to be the #1 complaint on the the forum.

[Chris Santee]

At the request of a Fairfax voter,
the Fairfax Board of Civil Authority will meet at 6:00pm Monday (tonight) to re-count the School Budget vote.

School Board meets at 6:30pm in the Library.