Budget update

Question: Last year at this time, we were in the midst of a difficult budget process. The district did a good job with the public forums informing the taxpayers as to the tough situation our district faced. At the time we were warned that the next year's budget would be just as difficult. My question is, where do we stand as a district in formulating next year's budget and what tough choices are being contemplated at this time, including the progress on negotiations with the teachers' union?

Answer: Our budget situation is different this year than in the past because of changes made at the state level. Our state aid and our local property tax levy -- Broadalbin-Perth's primary sources of revenue -- have, for the most part, already been determined. Because of this, our budget situation is fairly black and white -- I encourage you to read the letter I sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this month to learn about the cuts we will have to make if our situation remains the same.

Director of Facilities & Operations

Question: Could you please tell me what the Director of Operations and Safety will be doing for the district?  Is this newly created? State mandated? Shouldn't or couldn't this be covered under Mr. Tomlinson's position in these tough economic times? I am wondering where the $72,000 is coming from as we were on the verge of laying off teachers again this year and the budget failed. Seems to me you could hire two teachers for this money and relieve some of the class sizes we currently have. I'm hoping this is a grant or something where the district isn't footing the entire salary, similiar to the communications position (even with half recovered from the state for this position, the pay is too high; I know private sector communications people who don't make what this district's specialist does). Please explain our new director's position. Thank you.

Answer: Over the next five years, the position of district director of facilities and operations is expected to save Broadalbin-Perth more than $200,000 by consolidating two management positions and eliminating B-P’s subscription to the BOCES Health-Safety-Risk Management service.

Charging students for admission to athletic events

Question: Please explain the reasoning behind the board's decision to not charge students admission for athletic events. With the district crying poverty and blaming the taxpayers for the youth commission and other organizations now having to pay a fee to use the facilities one would think the district would want to raise any funds it can. Also, is there not a cost to hold these athletic events, i.e. lighting, paying the coaches, paying the teachers to sell tickets? Even if the district charged $1 for students it would be something. So, with the board deciding to decline this opportunity to make a little extra money, they shouldn't be telling the taxpayers, "They did it to themselves." Also, if they are not going to charge students, how about having the teachers volunteer to sell tickets instead of being paid?

Answer: This decision was the result of a cost/benefit analysis.

The position put forward in your question is one that was put forward in our conversation when we set the price for sporting events. The total amount earned by ticket prices for all sporting events last year was approximately $16,000. It's true that a portion of this revenue will be lost by allowing students to attend at no cost. At least one board member said approximately the same thing you said in your question: We say we need money but eliminate a revenue source, and that's a contradiction.

Budget questions

Question: Given the current climate in the community regarding the budget and understanding the options that the Board of Education are able to choose from, I know that no matter what decision is reached, there will be people who are unhappy. The funding of education is a very controversial topic and one that needs to be re-examined and changed in some ways, however, until we can find alternative sources of funds to educate our children school taxes are a reality. I would hope that our community members (both for and against the current budget proposal), Board of Education, and administrators can come together to discuss possible options in a civilized and respectful manner at tonight’s meeting. As a tax payer in this community for the last 29 years, I am extremely sympathetic to those members of the community who find it increasingly difficult to pay their school taxes (I have elderly parents on a fixed income). As a parent of two B-P graduates, I also see the need to provide the children of this community with a quality education. Our children are the future leaders, store clerks, mechanics, factory workers, professionals, etc. who will be making these very same decisions in the very near future. Our BOE is faced with a daunting task and I would like to commend them for the countless hours they have spent in trying to create a budget that took both students and tax payers into consideration.

With that being said, I would like to ask the following questions:
1. Can the bus proposition be placed before the voters again? It is my understanding that not replacing older buses will have a greater financial impact than purchasing new ones.
2. Is it still possible for the teacher's union to take a pay freeze (both yearly percentage increase and steps with no stipulations attached)?
3. If the teacher's union were to take a pay freeze, what impact would there be on the current 4.88% proposed tax levy?
4. By what date does a budget need to be in place?

Answers: 1. Yes, the bus proposition could be put up for voters to vote on again, however, given that the Board of Education voted to go to a contingent budget, it is not likely.
2. Yes, the teachers union could take a pay freeze at any time.
3. If the teachers union had taken a pay freeze for the upcoming school year, this would have cut the 2011-12 tax levy impact approximately in half.
4. A budget must be in place by June 21.
-answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

What is the cost of a revote?

Question: If the budget does end up going to a revote, what will the cost to the district be?

Answer: The cost of a revote would be approximately $6-8,000.
-answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

Comments regarding bus purchase/budget vote

Question: I have a couple of general comments about the budget/bus purchase vote that I would like to express. In regards to the bus purchase proposal. We DO all pay for the purchase of these busses however the cost is diluted over a broader base than just our district. The money comes from state and/or fed. funds etc. that come from revenue generated through taxes. Most of us pay theses taxes. Second, we were looking to "replace" not add to our fleet. "Replacing" worn out equiptment with new, more efficient and more reliable pieces that have low/no repair costs by comparison, in my opinion is good sense when the cost would be so widely dispersed.

As far as the budget goes, my opinion is that cuts were not deep enough and not in the right places. To name a couple examples, eliminating a "stretching coach" (did we need that position in the first place?), and only eliminating a very few positions (partly through retirees not being replaced) were weak attempts at showing cost cutting efforts. Maybe if a dozen or so positions were on the line (instead of the 2.5), voluntary pay freezes may have been agreed too. For me, I would have tolerated a slightly higher tax increase than the roughly 5% proposed if I had seen the district employees share in the situation we now face.

Comment about budget revote possibility

This is just a general comment. I would like to suggest to the board that they do not put the proposed school budget back up for a re-vote because the contingent budget is almost identical to the budget that was proposed.  It would cost the district a lot of money to hold another vote. Making any more cuts would drastically hurt our district in my opinion and I think that the board of education and administration should be thanked for their hard work. I think it will be an eye opener to the people when they have to start paying to use the building as outside organizations. The voters put themselves in this predicament.

Question regarding the CSEA salary freeze and the 2011-12 budget

Question: What kind of administator and teachers do we have here at BP, that they would ask the lowest paid employee to take a pay freeze and then take increases for themself, I have had jobs in nursing where you are responsible for peoples lives had position cut had to do more work and the pay remained the same, we get the feeling as tax payers that teachers and administator are better then the rest of us, why are we not cutting more teacher positions like the school district around us? why are there not more cut in sport program that only benefit a certain small % of our students , while K -5 students are being ask to send in more money to help pay for gas for a class trip? I watch my kids buying school supplies for their kids including coping paper, construction paper, red pens for the teachers, kleenex, lysol wipes etc... why is this when more cuts could be made also? retiree have not had they social security increase over the last 2 years but yet we have to cut medication, food budget to pay our taxes. Why?? As you can tell my husband and I will be voting no this budget.


Answer: Mrs. Funk, I'm sorry to read that you hold these opinions. I will attempt to provide answers to all of your questions, in the order they were asked. If they don't change your opinion, I hope that these answers at least explain where the board is coming from.

First, all of the employees of the B-P district are contract employees. The district enters into a lawful agreement to pay the employees a certain wage, provide specific benefits, etc for the length of that contract. It's not optional - we must have these contracts under NY law. Typically, each of the bargaining units negotiates in a different year. This year the CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association) contract had to be renegotiated. Next year it will be the BPTA (Broadalbin-Perth Teachers Association) and the year following that it will be our administrators.

All employees were asked to take a pay freeze this year in the hopes that we could avoid cutting programs and increasing taxes. To do so we would have to open their contracts and come to a new agreement. We were unable to achieve this.

Because the CSEA contract was up for negotiation we had to come to an agreement. The agreement reached was, in our opinions, wonderful - the net increase in cost to the district's taxpayers for the next three years is essentially flat. This is because of the great amount of savings in health care costs and the modest wage increases provided in the contract. There is no doubt that the CSEA came through for the community when it was their time to negotiate.

About the administration and teachers: We have an award winning administration which costs less per student than 90% of all districts in NY (according to http://www.seethroughny.net/ a watch-dog site provided by the Empire Center for New York State Policy). Similarly, the instructional cost per student at B-P is less than 97% of all districts in NY; instructional costs include teacher salaries. Our students perform above average on almost all state tests and we have the highest graduation rate in the area. The district is continuing to search for ways to improve the quality of education provided. This combination of comparatively low cost and high performance is something to be proud of. Whatever else one may say, B-P is more efficient with your dollars than almost any school in NY.

About cutting positions: Broadalbin-Perth has laid off employees or not filled the positions of retirees 22 times in the last five years. These were cuts to all business units of the district but teachers made up the largest number of cuts (10). Each school district in the area arrives at a moment of decision on their own timeline. B-P has been scaling down in size for several years and made cuts again this year.

About sports: Sports and extracurricular activities are among the most important things offered by the school if feedback received from the community is an indicator. When it was proposed to cut sports and other extra-curricular activities we received an unusually large number of communications that they should be kept. There were approximately 1200 participants in various extra-curricular activities offered by the district - among these were roughly 700 distinct students.

About students bringing in supplies and paying for trips: A large number of the cuts to the budget and savings to the taxpayers have come from supplies. We have been told by some taxpayers that it is preferable to have those who use the facility pay for such things as supplies and gasoline for trips. More importantly, the mission of the school is to educate students to the highest possible standard. In order to accomplish this mission we need teachers who will educate them and an environment that is conducive to learning. So we sacrifice supplies in order to keep teachers to educate and employees who can maintain the school. It's clearly not an ideal situation but we have certain things we can control and others we cannot.

Why does education cost so much in NY: The short answer to this question is that we need reform of the laws governing schools. The various mandates handed down from the state increase costs unnecessarily and the laws governing collective bargaining leave most boards of education with little power at the negotiating table. There are more details in answers to other questions on Patriot Plain Talk. Please also review this document prepared by NYSSBA (New York State School Boards Association) http://www.nyssba.org/clientuploads/nyssba_pdf/nyssbapropertytaxcapreport.pdf. It provides details about cost drivers in education.

If you would like to support the kinds of changes required in order to make education more affordable please contact your representatives in the assembly and senate. They have the power to change the laws, we on the board can only tell you about what needs changing and advocate on your behalf. I've been told that legislators regard a single communication from a constituent as representing 30 people, so please write them!

Here are our representatives:
Assemblyman Marc Butler
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=117
District Office: 33-41 E. Main Street, Johnstown, NY 12095
Phone: 518-762-6486

Senator Hugh T. Farley
http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/hugh-t-farley
District Office: 2430 Riverfront Center, Amsterdam, NY 12010
Phone: (518) 843-2188
-answered by Ed Szumowski, Board of Education Vice President

Please explain director of buildings & grounds salary and guidance counselor salary

Question: When looking at the budget why does the director of buildings and grounds salary more than double this year? Also, why are the guidance counselor salaries up almost $50,000? This seems high.

Answer: The increase of $76,765 that appears in one budget line-item is an increase in that payment code only, the net payment by the district for the management of the building, grounds, health, and safety functions will actually decrease $20,000 this year (at a minimum). This is because we have chosen to consolidate two management positions into one director of building, grounds, health, and safety. The savings from this consolidation over the next five years should be at least $200,000 in salary, healthcare, and pension costs.

A guidance counselor is a mandated position for schools that serve students in grades seven through 12. the position did not exist at Broadalbin-Perth Middle School, meaning the school was not fully meeting that state education regulations until fall of 2010 when the position was created. During the 2010-11 school year, this position was paid for with federal stimulus money. In the upcoming 2011-12 school year, this position will be paid for with money from the general fund. This change in where the position's funding comes from is reflected in the line-item budget.
-answered by Ed Szumowski, Board of Education Vice President, and Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

What would a contingency budget mean in B-P?

Question: If the current budget is voted down by the taxpayers, what would a contingency budget mean regarding the tax levy. Many times, the contingency budgets can create a higher tax increase , as would be the case in the Amsterdam district this year. Taxpayers should be aware of the process should the current budget get voted down.

Answer: In the event of a defeated budget, the board of education would have three options:

• Put the same budget before the voters a second time;
• Put a revised budget before the voters; or 
• Go directly to a contingent budget.

If a second vote is held and the budget is again defeated, the board must adopt a contingent budget. According to state law, Broadalbin-Perth – like other districts throughout the state – would need to limit its spending increase to 1.92 percent for the 2011-12 school year under a contingent budget, which is 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The proposed budget for 2011-12 carries with it a 1.64 percent spending increase, which is $240,000 below the state-regulated contingency budget cap.

However, certain expenses that are included in the budget cannot, by state law, be included in a contingency budget. These expenses include student supplies, some student field trips, certain equipment purchases, some salary increases and community use of facilities.

Therefore, if the board adopted a contingent budget, an additional $12,000 in budget reductions would have to be made in these areas. This would mean that B-P’s contingent budget would carry a 1.59 percent spending increase.

Items exempt from a contingency cap are tax certiorari settlements, debt service and costs associated with enrollment growth.

Under a contingent budget, the tax levy increase associated would still be 4.88 percent, which is the same as what is outlined under the proposed spending plan.
-answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

Comment on 2011-12 budget adopted by BOE

I just read the highlights of the proposed budget that was adopted this morning by the board. I see that five positions are being eliminated mostly through retirement.  Good, but I shall assume that these retirees will recieve full benifits which the the tax payers are still paying for.  Cost savings is?  CSEA employees are accepting a lower cost medical benifits package with higher copays.  Good, but do the employees contribute to the cost of this benifit package, like most private sector employees, or does the district/taxpayer pay the cost?  I'm glad to see that the CSEA employees agreed to a pay freeze this year!  But, why would anyone agree to extending a contract for three years that is unsustainable?  Maybe my interpretation of this agreement is incorrect, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that we have now lost the timely opportunity to re-negotiate a contract that would be more suited to today's economic situation.  The fifty percent tax increase in the last four years is real!  Although extreme, paying more to give students opportunities and a better education is well worth the price.  Paying more to ensure the comfort and prosperity of district employees is simply ridiculous. There does exist a threshold where paying more DOES NOT get you more.  We are there!

What does "contractual" mean in the line-item budget?

Question: Could you please clarify what "contractual" means when viewing the line by item budget?

Answer: This is a common question that people have about the budget. The general misconception is that contractual means "according to employee contracts." That is generally not the case with contractual budget object codes (.400 budget code lines). Every school district function code has a contractual sub-code available to account for contractual and other expenses.

For example, the Board of Education has a function code of (A1010). A1010.400 is their contractual line. This budget line is used by the district for expenses such as legal and classified advertisements (which are required by state law) and the purchase of newspapers and periodicals.

Other common expenses that are paid from contractual budget lines are: agreements with outside contractors for services or repairs (i.e. water & sewer, waste removal, fire alarm and security systems, police patrol, school physician, etc.); utilities (i.e. electricity, natural gas, heating oil, fuel); professional development; conferences and assemblies; insurance; dues and subscriptions; and other outside contract-based fees.
-answered by Marco Zumbolo, School Business Administrator

Comments regarding pay freeze

Question: I am very discouraged that our BOE would attempt to degrade a tax payer by calling the tax payer's opinions "emotional" and referring to them as seeking "retribution."

Many tax payers wish for our BOE representatives to press the BPTA for a 100% pay freeze for all of 2011/2012, and in addition to that if an ethical pay freeze such as mentioned above is not reached then many tax payers would accept additional teachers being eliminated - this is not retribution, it is an attempt to close the budget gap. As tax payers should we attempt to negotiate with teachers to save their jobs? Have the teachers considered our community's elderly and disabled who live on a fixed income and cannot support another tax increase, what about so many of the families in this community who are financially under water, have the teachers considered them? But as a community we should not share our honest opinions for fear it will be taken out on our children? The BOE wants us to focus our efforts on changing Taylor's Law; is the teacher's union attempting to change that law? Come on. Tax payers who speak up are not anti-teacher, we love our teachers, we love our school, and teaching is a very challenging job, we respect that, but we need to make some difficult decisions. Mr. Szumowski, in all fairness to tax payers, this submission should be posted, this is a forum for tax payers to communicate, with the District, with each other, and there is no more important time than now, for tax payers to contemplate all sides to this budget process.
-submitted by Kellie Whitman
 
Answer: Mrs Whitman, I have heard it said, and have since repeated, that communication is the hardest thing we do. This is a pitfall of forums such as Patriot Plain Talk - they're more suited to question-and-answer interactions than dialogue. No insult was intended in the response to your most recent post.

The point about children bearing the cost of decisions we make should be clear: fewer teachers and programs reduce the opportunities for learning and achievement.

The Board of Education negotiated formally with the BPTA (attorneys for both sides were present) and did not come to agreement. If agreement is not reached there is no alternative.

Details of formal negotiations are private under law.

Our desire to focus on reform of the law has two purposes: to produce tangible, meaningful results and elevate the conversation above the typical us-versus-them conflict. Without reform we will be forced to conduct business as usual.
-answered by Ed Szumowski, Board of Education Vice President

Is there an update on a potential pay freeze for staff?

Question: I am wondering what came of the BOE and the Superintendent, meeting with the  bargaining units, concerning a pay freeze for 2011/2012? Were the attempts again unsuccessful?

As a tax payer, I can confidently say there are many many residents of Broadalbin who absolutley do not want the BOE to make any deals with the bargaining units, unless they are ethical and are 100% in the best interest of the school and tax payers. If the BPTA is not strongly pushed by their union members to accept a 100% pay freeze for 2011/2012, with no stipulations, then more teachers should be terminated, raise the number of children in the classrooms, do what we need to do. As tax payers we need to stand together on this; the teachers are not budging! I would strongly appreciate this being posted on the tax payer funded Plain Talk.
-submitted by Kellie Whitman

Answer: Mrs. Whitman, thank you for your message. The Board of Education and BPTA were unable to arrive at a cost saving agreement that would serve the interests of the district and its taxpayers. Negotiations are under way with the CSEA that we hope will lead to a successful contract ratification in the next week.

It is the firm position of the board that all employees must continue the primary function of the district - education - to the best of their abilities within the budget we've attempted to produce. Maintaining professional decorum is essential to this task as hundreds of people must work together. Such decorum and successful cooperation are less likely if the object pursued is retribution (firing more teachers for not taking a freeze).

It may be impossible to avoid emotional responses in times of stress. However, we ask you to please keep in mind that the students will bear the cost of actions by the adults. Let us not compound those costs.

The current system of negotiations between school districts and unions is broken and inherently adversarial; this damages professional relationships and (clearly) relationships with the community. It is our keen desire that the education of students not be adversely affected too.

I repeat a previously stated sincere request that energy be directed toward advocating for reform of the laws that govern public sector employment, like the Taylor Law. Only such reforms can change the nature of employer/employee relationships in New York state and lead to substantial changes in the way business is done in school districts. The Board must operate within these rules, provide for the education of students, and be accountable to taxpayers.

Where we have failed we ask your continued patience; we're attempting to overcome a broken system. Where we have succeeded we ask your support.
-answered by Ed Szumowski, Board of Education Vice President

The budget development process is fluid

Question: The last budget information was very confusing with the four rectangles of comments. I thought the point was clarity. Then I hear that positions that were not even discussed are being eliminated.

Answer: The budget development process is fluid. The budget development calendar, which you can find by clicking here, outlines the entire process. The formal development of the following year’s budget begins in late fall when the district administrators submit their budget requests to the business office.

The business administrator then presents several draft budgets to the Board of Education. As different budget drafts are presented, the business administrator must work within the confines of the anticipated revenues and expenditures for the upcoming school year, including state and federal aid numbers, which may not be final until April.

Throughout the process, the Board of Education and district administration listen to what the community is saying through the pre-budget survey, the series of community roundtables and questions on the Patriot Plain Talk blog.

Once revenues and expenditures are defined, the district can finalize the budget. The Board of Education then formally adopts the budget, and only at this time are decisions about cuts final.
-answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

Comment about Governor Cuomo's Budget Proposal

In Governor Cuomo's recent speech about the NYS proposed budget, he stated that there will be more cuts in education. This is not good news for any school district. Additionally, he has stated that readjusting top salaries, freezing teacher salaries, using reserves and leftover federal money would help school districts make up for the decreased state aid without the immediate need for layoffs. He has stated that "everyone" needs to make sacrifices. Over the last couple of years, the Broadalbin-Perth community and students have made several sacrifices with increased taxes and reduced programs. Just like NYS, the B-P School District is at a crossroads and as Governor Cuomo said, "we must seize this opportunity, make hard choices." If I remember correctly, school district pay increases (with benefits factored in) was approximately $900,000 in the last school year. We can continue to take more from the children but is that really looking out for the education for our children. We can also tax more but the B-P community has already made these sacrifices. Also, it appears to me, we have already tapped into our reserves and used the federal money. So my question is, "Are the teachers ready to make the sacrifice just as the Governor suggested for their B-P School District and Community?"

Using the turf to raise money

Question: Would the district consider hosting non-athletic events on the turf for a profit?

Answer: Absolutely. The district is willing to look outside the box for any opportunity to responsibly earn additional revenue for our schools.
-answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

Outsourcing costs, budget documents and salary questions

Question: Is there a location on the B-P website where taxpayers can see dollar amounts attached to budget ideas being considered for the 2011-12 budget? If not, I would like to request that B-P share on its website some true dollar amounts, costs and savings for budget ideas being considered.

I would like to know the approximate cost savings of outsourcing B-P's food/lunch program and the approximate cost savings of outsourcing our transportation. This cost savings number might potentially include the sale of some buses on the B-P equipment list.

As a taxpayer and employee in the private sector, I, like many taxpayers, have had to accept a pay freeze for several years, and many of us have had to do this in an attempt to sustain our own employment.

With that idea in mind I would like to request information on what the approximate dollar savings would be if the entire B-P staff (administrative, support and teaching) were all to agree to NO pay increase in the coming 2011-12 school year. I believe this is a legitimate item that should be on the table for discussion.

I am hoping the cost savings numbers that I have requested can be shared so I can better understand our situation and I am hoping it will allow us to make informed decisions and help us all decide where to concentrate our efforts. It seems we are discussing combining athletic programs, what I consider a potentially negative impact on our school and students, and we are considering this prior to committing to smaller steps such as outsourcing food and transportation, both of which I believe have less impact on our school and students.

Answer: All public schools in New York are required to make their budget documents available to the public, both online and in school offices at least two weeks prior to the budget vote. At B-P, we strive to make the budget development process as transparent as possible through our community roundtable forums and the information that we put online and in our newsletters.

In regards to outsourcing, please see the minutes from the last community forum [click here]. At this forum, which was held on Dec. 13, community members weighed the pros and cons of outsourcing our food or transportation services. In the end, the community’s opinion was that there is a much bigger picture to outsourcing than first appears. Community members felt that outsourcing could lower district morale, take away our control in some areas and potentially compromise quality. In addition, our current contractual obligations prohibit outsourcing.

Some time ago, after a thorough investigation into the costs of outsourcing, the district committed to operating a transportation department and has even made infrastructure upgrades to the bus garage through a voter-approved capital project. Because of the investment we have made, the district feels it would be somewhat irresponsible to make the decision to outsource transportation at this time.

Outsourcing could also have a potentially negative effect on the entire B-P community given that almost 70 percent of our non-instructional staff members live within the district. If we were to outsource these positions, we would have less control over how the programs operate and whether the affected employees would be rehired to work in the district.

In the end, we feel it is a better decision to accept the loss of a potential small savings that outsourcing may provide to maintain the quality and control of our programs.

If the entire B-P Central School District staff (administrative, support and teaching) all agreed to NO pay increase in the coming 2011-12 school year, the cost savings would be $860,516.
-answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent

A cornered New Yorker

Comment: I voted "yes" to the budget this morning. I did this because I feel cornered, not by the school district or the BOE , but by New York State. We all know what flows down hill and we as tax payers are getting covered by the flow at the bottom of the hill. I can't stand that my taxes are going up AGAIN but I also feel that our kids deserve simple things like sports, band and other activities. To me, there is ALOT of fat on the administrative side, but these positions are MANDATED by the State. I look at a budget of 29+ million dollars and that 62% of that is payroll and benefits, that also gets to me, but what am I to do? Whether you vote yes or no, get out and vote! Just stop to think about where the true point of origin of these tax increases are coming from, it's not the BP BOE or directly a result of the administration. Just don't let your feelings for the way things are economically have an adverse effect on the group that it is REALLY hurting, our kids and their futures!
- signed, A Cornered New Yorker

On the proposed budget

Comment: Over the past few weeks the words “School Budget Vote” has evoked many different emotions from many different people. It can leave questions in your mind. It can leave you with very strong opinions. And all of this is ok, it is after all a free country in which we have the right to say what we believe. In order to form the best opinion in voting for myself, I did a lot of research and I want to share what I learned from various sources (all public information).