Monday, June 29, 2015

Open Letter re: False Statements at Town Meeting

Open Letter re: False Statements at Town Meeting










I really do not understand why professionals like the selectman and chairwoman of the school committee (knowledgeable in matters of school budgeting) would make statements that they did at Annual Town meeting. Either they’re not telling the truth or they’re really bad at what they do. 

However, I believe I do know why the school superintendent misrepresented the town’s support of the school. She was quoted by TGN as saying that we were nearly $ 800,000 under effort (or under Target) in FY14; when we were actually $ 618,712 over Target. After speaking with her for nearly an hour, to get her agreement on facts in a letter to the editor, she agreed my numbers & facts were correct and she expressed concern at my submitting this letter. When asked why, she said that she was concerned that if this information was published, voters might not vote for overrides in the future. 

The above facts are presented to correct false information given to citizens of Templeton by the school superintendent, chairwoman of the school committee, and a selectman. All of these people have tried to make the public think that the town has not been supporting the school budget; when in fact it has. In FY14 Templeton contributed 33.8 percent more than the DESE Minimum Required Contribution and 12.5 percent more than the Target Local Contribution. In the past five (5) years Templeton’s support has averaged 10 percent over the Target Amount. 

In the last eight (8) years the
spending per student has increased from $ 9,070 to $ 12,720 per student, while our enrollment has dropped from 1,652 to 1,309 students. That’s an increase in spending per student of 40 percent while the enrollment dropped 21 percent. When it comes to Total Net Spending as compared to DESE’s Foundation Budget for the Narragansett Regional District, our schools spent 29.7 percent more than that “Adequate Spending Level for Our School District” while the entire state of Massachusetts averaged 23.7 percent more. In-over-words our school district spent 6 percent more than the average school district in Massachusetts. And all of this great support is before you even consider that the voters just approved another $300,000 increase in Templeton’s FY16 school budget.

In closing -- one point that I would like to try and make is that -- I believe Templeton should be receiving praise for higher than average support, rather than being told that we are not adequately supporting our schools.
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5 comments:

  1. Bev BartJune 29, 2015 at 5:14 PM

    I appreciate the work that Mr. Heaney went through to show the School Committee and Ms. Miller that they were wrong. It is important that the people in this town be able to believe the facts they are given, when they have to vote for big increases such as the School Budget. You have to remember our town does not have the income from big businesses that other towns and cities do. Almost all of the tax increases fall on the backs of the people who live in this town. How much is enough ? It does seem there is no limit, while the rest of the Departments in our Town have suffered from short hours and layoffs, do to the way funds were spent in the past. Thankfully we are seeing the light through the trees and our financial problems are being slowly resolved. Ask for funds when you really need them, fair is fair, and I think most people will agree with that. Don't mislead the people who work so hard for their money, because trust is not something you can buy. I am quite sure people may just think twice when they are told "You have not given enough" Oh Yah !! Bev.

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  2. Bev BartJune 29, 2015 at 5:16 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. AnonymousJune 29, 2015 at 7:48 PM

    well i think you can bring to a vote to reduce the tax rate ..

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  4. Jeff BennettJune 30, 2015 at 8:54 AM

    Research Underrides at massachusetts DOR. It is information rarely shared.

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  5. Mrs. FarrellJune 30, 2015 at 9:04 AM

    Or...you can attend the Advisory Board meeting and ask that they submit an article to reduce Templeton's assessment for the Narragansett Regional School district....about 88,000 would be nice right about now.

    Or...you could ask for an article to have the attorney general review the four issues which are and will continue to impact Templeton's finances for the foreseeable future!

    Or...you can try to get 100 signatures to have an article placed on the STM ...either STM!

    Or...you could submit an article to reduce the recreation department budget. Will there be a program this summer...for the kids? For the kids who can't afford to pay to play at the programs offered by the school department? I voted and supported the funding for the Recreation department because I thought there would be a summer program... for the KIDS!

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