Burlington’s mayor has announced his support of a revised school budget that is higher than the original plan rejected by voters on Town Meeting Day.
Voters in Burlington will go to the polls June 3rd to decide on a revised Burlington school district budget. The spending plan is being presenting in the wake of an upheaval in the district administration. An audit found repeated deficits leading to the superintendent’s departure two years before the end of her contract. The district’s chief financial officer announced his resignation, effective June 30th.
At the same time, the school board has been drafting a revised district budget to present to the voters. The revised budget of $67.4 million is larger than the plan presented in March and includes millions in cuts. Standing in front of one the district’s elementary schools Monday, Mayor Miro Weinberger expressed his support of the new budget. “My support of the budget is in part a reflection of my belief that it is important to support this board’s on-going effort to put our school system on a more stable footing. Second, our community is very fortunate to have the excellent public school system that we enjoy and I am concerned that too many cuts, too quickly and without a deliberate strategy will do considerable lasting damage to that system, particularly in the programs and services that directly impact our children. As the school board continues the difficult work of identifying and correcting past mistakes, we cannot allow our legitimate frustration with that process to compound the problems that our schools face.”
The mayor was surrounded by supporters of the budget, including the board members crafting the plan. School Board finance chair Miriam Stoll explained the budget proposal’s bottom line for taxpayers. “If you vote yes on this budget, if you had a $200,000 house, you would be voting for an additional $220 in taxes for the year. If you don’t vote for this budget, you’re still looking at an increase. On a $200,000 house it would be about $160 for the year. So there is a differential, it’s not as great as you might think.”
Over the past two weeks, school board officials have implemented more stringent hiring, purchasing and payroll oversight. The district faces a nearly $2.6 million deficit, and School Board Chair Patrick Halladay and Miriam Stoll outlined some of nearly $1.5 million in cuts within the new budget. “We’re going to be cutting all of the kindergarten para-educators. For families who are not on free and reduced lunch, there is a subsidy for transportation, it’s going away and families will have to pay out of their own pocket for bus transportation. Another one was to cut back on the professional development that we offer our teachers. We did cut back on some of the funds we’re putting forward to technology. We also did have to cut the elementary Spanish program. We also did our best to spread cuts around and to try and do cuts in areas that didn’t directly affect kids in classrooms.”
School Board Commissioner Kyle Dodson is concerned with the preoccupation over the cost side of the equation. “We haven’t had the time to talk about what I think is the much more important side of the equation, which is the outcome. What’s actually happening for children. What are we doing in the classroom that’s innovative and first-rate and 21st century and beyond. I’m really excited to get this budget passed on June 3rd so we can roll up our sleeves and really get to the work of defining what that is that’s going to give our young people the top-rate 21st century education they all deserve.”
The special election on the revised Burlington school budget is June 3rd.
