Emergency BOS Meeting
Last
night the BOS held an emergency meeting to discuss another Special Town
Meeting. This meeting was well attended for such short notice. The reason for
the short notice was caused by the actions and votes taken by the Narragansett
Regional School Committee.
There
was only one item on the agenda: “…FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF OPENING A WARRANT
FOR A SPECIAL TOWN METING AT WHICH THE TOWN WILL CONSIDER A NEWLY PROPOSED
ASSESSMENT FOR THE NARRAGANSETT REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT.”
The
Town was placed in a difficult situation when the school committee voted to
re-certify the budget on June 12th. According to 603 CMR 41:05
(3)(a) reads:
“(a)If
the budget is not approved by two-thirds of the members, the regional school
committee shall have 30 days from the date of disapproval by more than
one-third of the members to reconsider, amend, and adopt a revised budget. With
the approval of the Commissioner, this 30-day period may be extended an
additional 15 days. Where the local appropriating authority is a town meeting
and the annual town meeting is dissolved prior to voting on the budget, the
budget shall be deemed disapproved by that member as of the date of such
dissolution.”
The vote on the school budget took place at the ATM on May 15, 2013.
The school committee needed to take a vote to re-certify the budget within 30
days OR ask the commissioner of
education for a 15-day extension. So why didn’t the school committee ask the
commissioner of education for a 15 day extension? The school committee was
fully aware of the override vote on June 25th.
That
vote by the school committee to re-certify the budget put into play a different
section of 603
CMR 41:00; specifically, 603 CMR 41:05 (3)(d) which states:
“(d) The approval of a revised budget
shall be as set forth in 603 CMR 41.05(2)(a). If a local appropriating
authority does not vote on the revised budget within the 45-day period, that
member shall be deemed to have approved the revised budget.”
This is the section that created problems for the BOS. The 45-day
period began when the school committee voted to re-certify the budget on June 12th.
Yesterday was July 1st, the beginning of the new fiscal
year and DAY 20 of the 45 day period
to call for a STM. The BOS voted to open and close the warrant for a
STM to be held on July 26, 2013. This action, which was voted 2-1 (Farrell
and Morrison in the affirmative; Robinson in the negative), violates our town
bylaws specifically Article II – Town Meetings Section 5.
Article II – Town meetings Section 5 states warrants for ATM and STM
shall be open for a minimum of 14 days before closing and posting the warrants.
If the BOS did not violate the local town bylaw, there would not have been
enough time to legally post the STM. Posting the STM is for 14 days is a state
law; not a local bylaw.The local bylaw (14 days) + state law to post (14 days) = 28 days; there were only 25 days on the 45 day countdown.
Residents in attendance commented on the BOS approach to open and
close the STM warrant in one day. Former BOS chairman Bob Columbus was the
first to state we were in violation of the town bylaw. Ironic, considering under
his chairmanship the BOS repeatedly violated the same bylaw in March/April of
2012 under less drastic circumstances for the Town of Templeton. Recordings of
those meetings are on YouTube…
Wil Spring stated cuts of $691,000 were a disservice to the Town,
especially after two failed override votes. Virginia Wilder questioned why the
BOS did not contact the school committee after they were notified of the
re-certification vote on June 12th?
Recent
information has surfaced which indicates the superintendent of schools dropped
off the LETTER
re-certifying the budget on June 18th to the Board of Selectmen.
Please note the time stamp on the LETTER
. The superintendent of schools (978-939-5661) dropped off the LETTER
and asked for a receipt. Why
would she allow 6 days to elapse to deliver such important information to the
BOS ?
The
BOS became aware of the 45-day deadline after talking to town counsel on June
27th at the STM. So the BOS had a decision to make –
Intentionally
violate a town bylaw and call for yet another STM OR allow the 45 days to elapse which would cause drastic cuts to
public safety. The Town has no money. The only way it can come up with an
additional $691,000 for the schools is to make deep cuts in public safety…like
laying off the entire Police force except for the Chief as well as cutting
positions in the Highway department.
Why
do YOU think the school committee did not seek
approval from the Commissioner of education for a 15-day extension to
re-certify the budget? Then the
school committee could have voted to re-certify the budget AFTER the vote on June 25th?
Do YOU think the school committee was
justified in re-certifying the budget on June 12th? Do you think the school
committee was acting responsibly in notifying the BOS of the re-certification
vote on June 18th?
Do YOU think the vote by the BOS to
violate the town bylaw and open and close the STM warrant was justified?
The
action by the BOS does place the town in the position of being sued. However,
when the BOS last violated this
particular bylaw, no lawsuit occurred. Only time will tell, if a majority of
the BOS made the correct decision.
Emergency
meeting…the movie will be available as soon as possible. Stay Tuned!
My
opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !
Julie
Farrell
Living in this town is like living with the CLOWNS at the circus. The blame is both on the School as well as the BOS. When the School notified the BOS on June 18th the BOS should have taken action then and we wouldn't be doing another STM. The School by their actions does not deserve to have their way the TOWN should vote against their budget and let the SCHOOL cut what is needed for them to operate. SHAME on the SCHOOL and BOS.
ReplyDeleteActually, we would still need to have another STM. By law, if we DON'T hold a STM within 45 days, the school AUTOMATICALLY gets its budget by default. The reason for the STM isn't because of the error - the error meant there almost WASN'T a STM.
DeleteHi
ReplyDeleteNot dumb enough to fall for it
Once the school re-certified the budget, the BOS MUST call for another STM or after 45 days the school gets the full assessment ...the additional $691,000.
The BOS could NOT add an article regarding this issue to the STM held on June 27th because of posting issues and legalities.
The BOS has no alternative but to call for another STM or fork over $691,000 of taxpayer money.
The School committee HAD another option. They COULD have asked the Commissioner of education for a 15 day extension and waited for the results of the override vote. After the override vote, the school committee COULD have called for a joint town meeting with Phillipston.
What ever happened to "minimum" contribution? Seems to me Templeton has been giving more than the "minimum" contribution required by the state. Maybe that is all the town has to give? Let's go back to that and maybe the over inflated salaries of the administrators can be deflated...ya think?
DeleteOne more time I question exactly what the law is saying. I think there could be some interpretaton that the town did indeed vote on the budget by voting NO the override question. The town voted not to support the re-certified budget through the override. My opinion.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when does the 45 days start ? When the school board votes on the recertification or when they notify the BOS ? In this case these are 2 different dates.
It starts when the School Committee voted to re-certify. That is where the confusion came in.
DeleteActually I don't believe that. It is the responsibility of the school committee to notify the BOS that they have recertified the budget. If they delay that notification then that should be when the 45 days starts. I don't see how any on other interpretation could be made.
DeleteBut you are correct. I re-read the laws once again and it does certainly say within 45 days of the vote.
DeleteI think the school committee had some help on how to get what you want and screw the town all at once ...look at the front row of the bos meeting last night !!!!
ReplyDeleteim willing to bet that the school committee is going to do some kind of legal action against the selectmen for violating the town bylaw...because they will not get there way if there is another stm ..
ReplyDeleteThe same bylaw was broken before by columbus a number of times and no problems erupted. Also no one was being harmed by the action. No reason to sue,only a citizen of the town can sue over it. A school committee can not sue over it.I guess one coud say Templeton is in for it's third shit show this year.
ReplyDeleteMoving forward feels like backwards!
Has anyone considered the ramifications for property insurance rates and home owners insurance when we gut the police and fire departments?
ReplyDeleteI am not defending the school department or the school committee, ***BUT*** has anyone considered that the majority of the money problems should be placed directly on the Department of Education for placing unfunded mandates on local schools? My personal hot button is Special
ReplyDeleteEducation. While I know some children do need services, I believe that it has become a cottage industry for much of the staff. Every kid with a twitch gets placed on some type of IEP (individual education plan) From personal experience I believe many, if not most of SPED students could better be served by a boot in the ass and some home discipline. Having said that I was told by a high ranking administrator, whose name I will not reveal, that recently 3 severely autistic students and one with a severe immune deficiency came into the school system. The cost to service these 4 students approaches $1 MILLION. The MORONS at DESE do not care what burdens they place on Cities and towns. Until taxpayers begin to push back there will be NO relief.
I agree 100%. Many students are placed in programs to deal with their "special" needs when in reality they do indeed need to be served a boot in the ass.
DeleteTom J. and MW Green, yes that is a problem, but at this point there is nothing we can do about that. I am most upset about the School Committee and the way they have handled this whole thing. It is what it is, but we have to go forward and figure what is best for the town. No one knows how the meeting will come out, but the people in this town have a right, to have a say in how their money is spent. Blame, that was what VW was doing, but she has another agenda, in my opinion, and I get really sick of that whole bunch. Why would the BOS do anything to hurt the people they work for?? Not this group, from what I know about them. I do not think any of them are mind readers and pointing fingers and blame will not change anything, anyway. THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE PULLED A FAST ONE, simple as that. Now we need to figure out how to explain to the older people, how this mess has developed, and help them understand their votes did not count, and they need to vote again. Are they going to be upset, yes, and I can't blame them. Another shit show, like Dave calls it? I say Mr. Bergeron warns everyone once, and have the police throw out any person who yells, heckles, or disrupts the meeting. Everyone has a right to have a opinion but in all my years of going to town meetings, I have never seen such bad behavior, and it needs to stop. My opinion, Bev.
DeleteI agree Bev that the immediate concern is with the current situation, however, I think we also need to be thinking about the way the schools are run and start trying to re-shape the makeup of the school committee. The current committee seems to not care about anything other than their own agenda. To that point we need to make sure that during the next election we have school committee candidates that understand the needs of the town as well as the needs of the school and can work to strike a balance. Currently I do not see that from any of our school committee members. The school committee must be "town" friendly.
ReplyDeleteIt is a dangerous game to play chicken because when no one veers off there is a head on collision. VW, not the car, was the key turner in this game of chicken and when no one veered off she resigned. This should be very apparent to most. To have a BOS member who played both sides against one another in such a manner is despicable. Now VW and her buddies on the School Committee have put the town in an awkward position.
ReplyDeleteThe game that is being played, has some very experienced people playing it! If it is not Virginia, it would have been another of that group. Putting the town first? No way!! Dig, dig, dig, pick, pick, any way to cause trouble for the BOS, or the town! It makes absolutely no difference if they did the same thing! I am sure, it will be the school people who will go to the state, because the Selectmen dared to break a Town Bylaw. Let them go!! What are they going to do to the BOS, for doing the right thing for the town?? They can't fine them, the town has no money. They could put them in jail, but they would have to take the rest of us, because I am sure we must be guilty of trying to protect the town workers, and our town in general. Bev.
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