Final Deficit Unknown Till Late July

June 21, 2019

At the June 10 school board meeting, about 30 people (including school officials) came to the very large Elementary School gym. There was an inadequate number of microphones for the SAU and board members, so it was often difficult to hear what was being said.

Board members spent some time questioning the excess spending and sought a final deficit number. When one board member questioned the overspending in the Special Ed line items, one SAU official stated that Special Ed spending was fluid and could change from month to month based on daily attendance numbers. (One oddly-named expense was called "Homeless Transportation.")

Amber Wheeler, SAU Business Administrator, answered several questions from Board member, Carl Schaefer, about overspending on certain Special Ed line items. Ms. Wheeler replied that they could get a student whose needs could cost the district over $100,000. Apparently, the Law of Diminishing Returns was being overlooked.

When Chair Kris Raymond asked when the board would learn the final size of the deficit, Ms. Wheeler said she would have to reconcile the books after June 30 (the end of the school fiscal year). The final size of the deficit would not be known until late in July after all invoices have been received. Today, the deficit was about $142,000 with approximately $113,000 in unanticipated revenue. ("Anticipated revenue" would have been better for the budget.) Superintendent Warburton felt that they could tap into the trust funds and would not need to ask the town for extra funding.

Ms. Raymond then asked Ms. Wheeler if she could compile a list of all maintenance costs for each school going back a few years. This would help them determine if there was a trend.

Mr. Motika, who works on curriculum development, spoke for quite a while. He discussed a Multi-Age Grade Band, which at first sounded like a music program. He also spoke about Kindergarten Screening, which made one wonder if they were checking for drug use. Probably not. But he gave a thorough and informative report.

The Harriman Group's facility reports came up next. Ms. Raymond said their report gave no cost estimates to repair ARD, since they recommended that ARD be abandoned. She then asked Mr. Warburton to ask the Harriman Group if they could provide these cost estimates.

During a discussion about the Joint Tuition Committee (ARD to Three Rivers School) and the Building Renovation Committee (repairing the schools), the idea of developing a survey of residents was discussed and also the ongoing need for volunteers for both committees.

Mr. Carbonneau, one of the custodians, pointed out that he must get three quotes for maintenance projects but the board got only one. Ms. Raymond said they did not get more because the costs of the other firms' feasibility studies were much higher than Harriman's. He questioned the value of making large cost decisions about the schools based on only one estimate. This writer suggests this: Could we give the Harriman reports to the other vendors since it was already paid for? If yes, then those other vendors would be basing their cost estimates on the details of those reports, not full-blown, on-site studies of the two schools. We could then compare the other vendors' estimates with Harriman's.

Mr. Carbonneau felt that ARD was in fairly good shape. Maybe all that would be needed would be to identify and fix the most critical issues.

What You Can Do

If you are not involved in a school or town committee, then you are urged to get involved in one of the above committees. This is your town, your schools, and your children's future.