Fairfax School budget

[Rachelle LeVau]

Hello, Fellow Fairfax Residents.

I apologize for not paying more attention to the questions and information related to the school on this forum. In this post, I would like to address the issue of the school budget. On Tuesday, March 4, 2014 the Fairfax school budget was defeated by 53 votes. The vote was 278 for the budget and 331 against the budget. This budget had an increase of 4.9% and included $90,000 for the purchase of a replacement bus.  On Monday March 11 the school board met to discuss implications and options. A revised budget with a 4.3% increase has been warned and will be presented to the Fairfax residents on April 10 for a vote. We had to cut some money from freshman sports and put off a sound system in the Richard Brown Gymnasium. If this budget fails to pass, the school board will interpret his to mean additional cuts are needed.  If we need to further decrease the budget, we will be looking at cutting freshman sports further, reducing the funding for co-curricular supplies and eliminating teacher positions. If this budget fails, we need to hear from our community about what is important in order to put forward a budget that will be approved in a vote.

Please call or email your school board representatives if you have any questions or suggestions.

Sincerely,
Rachelle LeVau

[7F24]

How much money has the school spent on Ipads and laptops from the start of that program to the present? 

[tfence]

If you raise it more than inflation every year it will be unsustainable. Not many people even get a raise every year to keep up with inflation. All government spending has to be pulled back these days. Don't take it personal.

[nhibbard]

How old is the bus that was cut and is that a safety concern? What were the salary increases built into the budget and were there considerations of the benefit packages. I know that's always the first consideration I see at work with funding, flat funding of salaries and can we maintain the level of benefit funding.

In the comments it looks like the low hanging fruit was hit just to look like something was done. Freshman sport, a bus and a sound system. Why is there elimination of teaching positions in there for consideration? If you level fund the budget then that shouldn't be needed at all because you actually show savings in some areas. Why not flat salaries?

[Rachelle LeVau]

1. I'll have to find the answer to the ipad question. We have a technology line item in the budget and I don't remember the number. I believe it is somewhere in the $200k range. This technology number would be a logical choice for cutting if we have to level-fund the budget. We have been trying not to touch this line item because it is so difficult to bring back after cutting.

2. We chose to increase the budget more than inflation this year because we had level funded the budget and only increased modestly in the past. As the economy has been picking up, we wanted to put back in some previously cut funding before significant impact to physical plant or programs. The residents that attended our budget forums these last 2 years have consistently asked us to restore funding and increase programs for students. Also, for the second try this year, we only cut modestly because we are only guessing at why it failed. There was very low voter turn out and we wanted to give the  opportunity for more residents to weigh in.

3. The bus has not been cut from the budget. I mentioned the bus because it has not previously been included in the budget. Bus purchases have previously been separate articles. This 90,000 represents almost a full percent increase to the budget. We have to purchase a bus this year, it isn't really an option. If we were to purchase a bus and level-fund the budget, we would have to significantly reduce programs.

4. We can't level salaries. We have a negotiated agreement with the teacher's union that includes automatic increases to their salaries. To level-fund salaries, we would have to cut teacher positions. Teacher salaries are the largest portion of the school budget. When we look for areas to cut, teachers are an easy choice because the number is so large.

Please keep the questions coming!

[tfence]

It may be time to go back to the union for re-negotiations. The public cannot afford the terms. I will use this as an example of what will happen to the childcare industry if the union bullies their way in. Childcare will raise beyond what the consumer can afford, just like the public cannot afford these increases to the school budgets. 

[Papi]

I agree with tfence this is what happens when "the union bullies their way in."  In fact, let's go back to the good old days w/out unions.  We could save a ton of $ w/out weekends, paid vacations, sick leave, overtime, 40 hr work week, military leave, workplace safety standards, etc.  In fact, we could also get rid of child labor laws.  And do we really need public education for children at all?

[Rachelle LeVau]

I will definitely forward your thoughts to our negotiations team. We negotiate a new contract every couple of years. The state recently mandated negotiating at the SU level. That means our teachers contract is negotiated by a team of school board representatives from our school together with Fletcher reps and Georgia reps.

Please remember that close to half of our teachers also live in our town. When you say they shouldn't be given a raise, you are probably saying this about your own neighbor.

Also remember that it is very difficult to throw out a union and still have a school to educate the children of our town. Our negotiating team does their very best to balance the budget needs with the need to maintain an education system in our town. I often hear that it is time to throw everybody out, but I also hear many people praise our school and our teachers for what they provide for our children. Fairfax students represent our town well when they compete at the regional and state levels. They are well prepared to go out in the world and make a difference. Many times, they come back to Fairfax because they were raised in a town that cared enough to offer a great community and a great education. Ask any of them why they wanted to return to teach in our schools and raise their children in our town after seeing what other areas of Vermont, America and the world has to offer.

Rachelle

[suze]

Nicely stated, Rachelle!

[tfence]

Papi, I do agree that when they started they had the right intentions and made monumental progress in creating a safe workplace along with a livable wage. But, over time they have and still are a bullying organization. I know this, my father's cousin ran the laborers union in Boston for years (Walsh). I have owned a couple of union companies in the past and crossed a few lines in my day. I know what goes on behind the scenes. All I am saying here, is that the negotiations have to be redone to make it more affordable for the public and get a budget passed. Instead of directly taking away from the kids. I am totally against the union involved with childcare. They have nothing to offer the independent business owners. They will only cause childcare rates to reach a level that is unaffordable.   

[nhibbard]

It's not about remember that it's your neighbor that needs a raise. My neighbor has no ability to raise my salary and neither do many residents. Comments like that should never be part of a contract or the basis for an increase. Increases should also not be across the board for more than CPI. There are teachers and staff that don't perform as well as others. Just like there are accountants and pilots that don't perform as well as others. Increases to salary beyond CPI should be merit based with some degree of measure to back it up. Not that kids and parents are happy with the teach but that the achievement of the students is increasing. That's test scores in math, performances or demonstrations for the arts, participation in athletics or the arts.

My saying that I don't think salaries should be increased deals with overall cost. If my neighbor is a teacher who can point to definitive reasons why they deserve a raise, they are welcome to, but can they also point out why every member that is getting an increase beyond CPI deserves it.

If prior budgets had salaries increased annually by CPI, would the number be near where it is now? Where does the benefit package fall? I guess it's more of a state issue since they seem to want to further consolidate power at the supervisory union who doesn't pay taxes. Sounds like another way to consolidate education decisions at a state level. Consolidate local to supervisory then supervisory to state. In the end you have to pay whatever the state feels like charging. Then taxpayers get stuck with local contracts they have no power in creating. Not like that's much different than healthcare and daycare lately.

[Rachelle LeVau]

You make valid points. However, the depth of your argument goes well beyond this post and this open forum. You are welcome to attend public board meetings or contact your local school board representatives individually. In fact, I encourage you to participate even more fully by seeking a seat on the board. In this way you can truly be heard and make a difference.

In this strand, I would like to answer as many questions as possible and alert voting residents to the next step in this process. My goal is an educated electorate and an increase in voter turnout on 4/10/14. We don't have another board meeting before the revised budget is scheduled for a vote. This is my best chance to be sure the Fairfax public has the best facts to make a decision.