Summary of Jan. 25th school board meeting

[lee fankhauser]

The board met the other night and we had the privilege of having Senator Singer in attendance to briefly discuss the new law that allows school elections to be moved from April to November.  Sen. Singer discussed the rationale behind the move as well as the problems with the legislation.  The meeting, to my knowledge, was videotaped and should be able to be viewed on Channel 77 and online at www.howelltv.org within the next week or so.  I strongly recommend you view the video and the discussion by each individual board member later in the meeting discussing his/her view on moving the election.

In the end, the board voted 5 to 3 (Mr. Moscato was absent) to move the election to November.  That will take place this year.  At present, the board has committed to another flat budget.  Therefore, you should anticipate voting only for school board members and NOT on the general budget (approximately $68M of our total $108M budget) or on any additional funds.  We have also not heard discussion of any other questions or referenda that would be added to the ballot.

As Mrs. Cerretani pointed out, for whom you vote in November, as with every election, will be very important in ensuring that the district is served by people who are putting the needs of the children (and I would add, the taxpayers) first.  Since we cannot express our approval or disapproval of the budget any longer, it becomes more imperative to elect representatives who share your particular view of what you want for the educational aspect of this community and to communicate that on an on-going basis; first, through your vote in November and then throughout the year, by your attendance at board meetings (or viewing of the videos, at a minimum) and your emails, phone calls and letters.  Please sign up for News Bytes, Twitter and Facebook so you can remain informed and be heard.

The election issue overshadowed most other items on the agenda so that is all I intend to report on at this time. If you have any questions regarding how the change will impact the budget process, please contact the school business office. The timetable for putting the budget together remains the same and there will continue to be budget presentations to the community and to the board. The budget still requires submission to the County Exec. Superintendent's office and approval. Any portion of the budget over cap is considered "temporary" until November and requires voter approval. We were told that any changes to the budget adopted by the board in the spring, would require county approval,  which would be given sparingly and only in "emergency" situations. We were also told that we need not be concerned that the board will use its 2% "cap bank," in the 2012-2013 budget since the board has a goal of a flat budget  (the cap bank is the approx. $1M that could have been raised last yr but wasn't and which if used does not trigger the annual cap or a public vote on the budget). My question was whether the cap bank could be used without the public's knowledge. I was assured that it could not.

Thanks for reading.

Amy Fankhauser