Narragansett school budget heads to joint town meeting
TEMPLETON — With the defeat Friday of extra money for the Narragansett Regional School District, school officials are moving to the next step, which is a joint town meeting with Phillipston.
Phillipston and Templeton are the only two towns in the Narragansett Regional School District. On Friday at a special town meeting, Templeton voters defeated a request to add $561,371 to the $4,430,615 approved in May as Templeton's share of the regional school district budget. Phillipston approved its portion of the increased school budget at its annual town meeting in May.
The Templeton money has been harder to come by. It has been defeated at two Proposition 2½ override votes and at a special town meeting.
The date of the joint town meeting has not been set. A joint meeting of the Regional School Committee and Templeton and Phillipston Boards of Selectmen has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Narragansett Regional Middle School auditorium to outline the process of the joint town meeting. At the joint boards meeting, Templeton and Phillipston selectmen are expected to be asked to agree on a town moderator for the joint town meeting. Templeton's town moderator is David Bergeron. Phillipston's moderator is Timothy Haley.
Without an override, if the extra regional school money is approved, Templeton would have to hold another town meeting to cut $561,371 from its general budget. If the school money fails, the School Committee, by a two-thirds vote, may call for a second joint town meeting. If the district does not have its School Committee approved budget ready by Dec. 1, the state could take over and order a budget figure.
Phillipston and Templeton are the only two towns in the Narragansett Regional School District. On Friday at a special town meeting, Templeton voters defeated a request to add $561,371 to the $4,430,615 approved in May as Templeton's share of the regional school district budget. Phillipston approved its portion of the increased school budget at its annual town meeting in May.
The Templeton money has been harder to come by. It has been defeated at two Proposition 2½ override votes and at a special town meeting.
The date of the joint town meeting has not been set. A joint meeting of the Regional School Committee and Templeton and Phillipston Boards of Selectmen has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Narragansett Regional Middle School auditorium to outline the process of the joint town meeting. At the joint boards meeting, Templeton and Phillipston selectmen are expected to be asked to agree on a town moderator for the joint town meeting. Templeton's town moderator is David Bergeron. Phillipston's moderator is Timothy Haley.
Without an override, if the extra regional school money is approved, Templeton would have to hold another town meeting to cut $561,371 from its general budget. If the school money fails, the School Committee, by a two-thirds vote, may call for a second joint town meeting. If the district does not have its School Committee approved budget ready by Dec. 1, the state could take over and order a budget figure.
The last two paragraphs of this article are a great summary of the process!
ReplyDeleteToo bad they got the wrong amount also.
Deletedo you people know that if a joint town meeting happens you will have phillipston voters spending Templeton money
ReplyDeleteSo? we spend theirs....
Deletehuff ..they already kicked in there share if you been paying attention !!
ReplyDeleteExactly. & we spend it.
DeleteMike and Huff and Puff,
ReplyDeleteSince July 1, 2013 the school district is operating on a 1/12th budget based on LAST Year's assessment. The school district will continue to operate on a 1/12th budget until the funding issue is resolved.
While Phillipston voted the full assessment from the NRSD, the district can't spend "it" until the issue is resolved or DESE steps in on Dec. 1, 2013.
The last paragraph is a good summary of the process. I'm not sure which figure has been certified by the NRSD Committee. Maybe we'll find out at the meeting tonight. Hopefully, some ground rules and procedures will be established for the Joint Town Meeting.
Mrs. Farrell,
ReplyDeleteI think that it's good that you continue to explain the process on the blog. Three-quarters of the disagreements that occur (at least regarding this topic on the blog) have to do with confusion as to the process. If everyone, including myself, understood the process better, I'm sure we would still disagree, but at least we could narrow-down the actual points on which we all differ. Good work.
Time for the school committee to compromise and go for half as in about $345,000.00 and work for some more next year. Give and take as we cannot get any where butting heads. Voters have said no 3 or 4 times now so it is time to respect what they have said and I am thinking ahead as in a new elementary school which no matter how you play it goes through the Templeton taxpayers. No matter how you play it or word it, a past transfer of funds is not a receipt nor does it count as an increase or a decrease in receipts for the school district. So just because the district in FY13 used funds transferred from the reserve account and those funds are no longer available does not qualify as a decrease in receipts for the district. It was a transfer so please do not mislead anyone by writing it in as a decrease of receipts. The numbers are the numbers and if both sides move, everyone wins so lets work on a compromise and get this done! $345,000.00 is a number I think can win so lets do it school district and lets give the taxpayers a break. We all know this numbers game is not about the kids, it is about what we can afford and what we are comfortable spending. This can be done if the district leads the way and comes with the number that is half of the original.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side, if the state comes in and tells the town of Templeton that we, the dept. of education is the dictator of the state and we tell the taxpayers of Templeton that your town meeting vote means nothing, your ballot vote means nothing because we are boss, then why does Templeton taxpayers spend one dime on a town meeting if that vote and process means nothing. Does Templeton have a true democratic process at their call, as in town meeting or is this another shell game where it is actually a dictatorship where the education dept. will take their vote from them? If this is the case, why have a mandatory town meeting and ballot if it means nothing? Ask Denise Andrews that the next time you see her! Compromise on the part of the school committee is the answer and $345,000.00 is the fair number, half the original number as in give the taxpayers a break and both sides have a chance to give half, I do not think we can ask more of them, if their input actually means anything.
ReplyDeleteI believe the 600k was a compromise. Which half would you cut? Only heat half the school? Half the football team? Plow only half the parking lot?
DeleteI will discuss compromise with members of the school committee and superintendent rather than a huff n puff on the internet.
ReplyDeleteThe school commitee & Supt HAVE been discussing this for months. Where have you been?... OH, thats right....
DeleteHave you and "Bob Greene" switched your roles?
DeleteHuff n Puff your question to Jeff "where have you been" are you mocking him for serving our country?
Deletehope not.
Not at all... been there. But you cant be 2 places at once. He shouldve givin his seat up to someone who was here to do the job in this most important time.
DeleteMark, you may wish to skip the Monday selectmen meeting and go to the school meeting which is being held on Monday august 5, 2013 at the kiva at 6:30 pm at the same time as the selectmen meet
ReplyDeleteAlso Mark, I understand that some people questioned or raised concerns that a vote at the STM by the advisory board violated OML because it was not a posted meeting. Apparently these people are unaware that open meeting law does not apply to town meeting (annual or special) That is the ruling / opinion of the sitting Attorney General. So thank you the advisory board for doing a tuff but needed job.
ReplyDeleteOpen Meeting Law does apply to Town Meeting, but the current AG does not investigate complaints of violations that occur at Town Meetings. The OML guide on the AG's website states that future AG's may interpret the law differently.
DeleteThanks for the info Jeff. I wasn't too concerned over those claims. It defies logic that an OML violation occured at a Town Meeting. I would hazard a guess that those objecting to the poll of the advisory board didn't like the outcome. Had the outcome been to their liking, they would have said it was a fine thing for the AB to vote.
ReplyDelete