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April 12, 2011
To the Editor:
I attended the last SBAC and Board of Education joint meeting. Observations: Why was the SBAC not seated with the Board? Why were there no microphones? Why were there only about 30 seats for the audience initially? Why were some people allowed to speak who were not members of either the Board or SBAC before the public comment portion? Why was there no visual presentation for the audience? Why do we have to be subjected, as taxpayers, to truly uncomfortable and unwelcoming accommodations for a meeting?
Although I did not stay for the entire meeting, I stayed long enough to hear a member of the board state that taxpayers would see perhaps $42 a month raise in taxes if the increase was in the area of 5.5 percent. I heard the teachers’ union rejected any pay freeze. And I heard that modified sports might be more important than academic areas.
First, let me make very clear that even a 5 percent increase in school taxes is unacceptable. It is not just $42 dollars a month in school taxes. It is gasoline that costs us a huge percentage more than last year. It is food costs and clothing costs that are rising daily. It is the cost of oil to heat my house that has also gone up so much in one season that it makes me wonder how much more we can all stand.
Did the school board start from scratch to build a budget or just look at where things might be cut? How can modified sports even be compared to the 7th grade LOTE program, an academic area? Does this community really believe our children will wither and not function if modified sports had to be cut?
Many members of SBAC expressed strong opinions regarding the need to cut items and bring the tax increase lower. While SBAC is a great idea conceptually, I wonder how much their voices mattered. This Board of Ed has to do better. Yes, the district is wonderful, but its residents do not have bottomless pockets of money.
Nancy Bryan
Cornwall
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