Deficit spending: School Board finds red ink is coming if changes not made
February 23, 2012 at 11:59 pm in The Jamestown Sun
The Jamestown Public School Board took a hard look Thursday at the projected fiscal situation for the 2012-2013 school year and beyond and found red ink. Continue Reading
I wonder where they can possibly cut to balance the budget. With the administrators making an average $79,000 and getting 5% to 11% raises, perhaps administration should be the first target? no, I doubt that would ever happen. They’ll just raise taxes, it’s not their money anyway.
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As a state employee, Sally O. should watch what she says about Measure 2. State employees are not to project opinions, only provide facts. It is her opinion that the budget would be blown out of the water. And if that’s her opinion, then it is only because they have not put proper planning in place and her comment is reflective of the lack of leadership regarding this issue.
Looks like the short term stimulus money is running out so I would say start by getting rid of the “extras” that were added from that program and then maybe look at cutting the amount of extracurricular activities. Adjusting mill levies (which I think are maxed out anyway) or increasing assessed values will not go over well.
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Bill, I agree with you there, but to put it frankly, she’s right. That’s not an opinion, it really is fact. Just because she was quoted saying what she said in the form of a metaphor, that doesn’t mean she is expressing her opinion. With all due respect, though, how wouldn’t the budget be “blown out of the water” if measure 2 passes?
I think it’s going to be a real problem if the schools start getting rid of teachers. How are they going to choose which ones (fairly)? The stimulus money wasn’t supposed to be used for hiring positions in the first place, so why is it a problem now? Just because they can’t budget properly? Really, just because they got stimulus money and grants for other purposes, yes, that freed up money elsewhere, but why would hey hire more people when they knew this was going to happen? Pathetic. The whole board should feel ashamed and if a single staff member gets the ax, then they should have to tell the person themselves. They won’t though, no spines on that board.
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The reason I said she was stating her opinion was that because it was purely an emotional response and not one based on fact. What I would expect from someone in that position is something more like: “If measure 2 were to pass, then we would have to do this…” or “We are evaluating and communicating the impacts to the district to the elected leaders. Some examples of these impacts are…” Somewhat semantics, I just expect more from someone in that position.
I also said that if it were to blown out of the water, it would be because of poor or no planning and not because of the measure itself. Would it be disruptive? Absolutely. Any major change to the financial structure would be. Suggesting it to be “blown out of the water” implies that all hope is lost and we should just give up now and not even look at it. Again, take the emotion out of the conversation and deal with it as a proffesional. Provide the public with facts to make informed decisions.
As far as how funding collection and allocation in the case that measure 2 passes, there are several income based and/or consumption based alternatives that could be used in lieu of value based taxes.
I agree that people should not have been hired when only short term funding was made available. However, I wouldn’t generalize that everybody on the board is spineless and if the only source of information they rely on is Bob Toso, then that is their problem and not Bob’s. They are elected with a responsibility to gather and communicate information to make informed decisions.
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Bill, your response was very thoughtful and I appreciate that.
I am still going to disagree with you about Sally Ost’s comment. Even if it were based on emotion, it was still based on fact. There is no way to plan for this type of upset, should it happen, because it would likely require a special session in the legislature. Perhaps her wording made it seem as though “all hope is lost”, but truly, all hope would be lost for the current proposed numbers and budget, so I feel she’s correct.
As far as generalizing that everyone on the board is spineless, perhaps it is best to admit that that is a generalization that fits most of them. Unfortunately, just because they rely on Bob Toso for their info, that doesn’t just make it their problem – it makes it ours, too. Many of the board members need to be better stewards of the community’s interests, not just their own.
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Also it should be mentioned that Super. Bob Toso has been attending meeting and has knowledge that oil money should be coming our way, I did not hear him speak up on that subject. I don’t think the board is spineless they are only told what Bob wants them to know! The coming school board election should be interesting we have board members to get rid of and I know they know who they are. Good luck to the people who will be running its time for a change!
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