THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE YOU VOTE

I cry at summer swim meets. Daddies in crisp shirts, sleeves rolled up, leave work early to make it to the pool in time to watch their skinny seven-year-old flail down the pool. The dads scream like mad—funny, since the kids can’t hear them. But the outpouring of unselfish, unselfconscious, wholehearted parental love just chokes me up.

I feel the same way about the Hastings High School spring concert. But it’s the graduating seniors who get to me when, after  they’ve played or sung, they say their farewells to Mr. Jernigan, Mr.Kerness, and Mr. Rubino, who have taught some of them for almost half their lives. “You’ve been ‘a huge part of my adolescence’ or ‘like a second father’ and ‘shaped us as people,’” they say.  For teenagers, tight extrafamilial relationships like these are conduits of adult wisdom that may not be acceptable coming from the mom or dad who drove their five-year-old selves to their first music lessons.

Last night at the coffee, Mr. Shaps emphasized the importance of maintaining the current tenor of student-teacher relationships as we face the future—it’s at the core of the learning experience. The seniors’ relationships with their music teachers perfectly illustrate how and why.  The affection between students and their teachers, in addition, is one of the best parts of Hastings.

TIME FOR CHOICES

Now, with rising costs of funding federal and state mandates and generous teacher contracts in the context of widespread economic uncertainty, pressure is on the district to cut back.   

I wonder what aspect of the music program on view tonight should be cut? Should it be the ten-person percussion ensemble that did the amazing all-clapping piece (perhaps inspired by composer Steve Reich’s)? Should it be the madrigals, with just sixteen kids?  Mr. Shaps, who was bopping along to the jazz band, won’t want to cut any of it. He’ll certainly target swimming, golf, and wrestling, which nearly hit the budget cutting room floor this year  because they were small programs attracting more limited numbers of students. Sports have been an inexplicably easy target in many communities.

What about having parents or students raise money or otherwise fund some or all of the costs of activities? The school’s well-reviewed theatrical production raised $14,000, according to my daughter. This is not to say that that’s 100% accurate, but there were five performances ; the auditorium was nearly filled for every one. All the parents who wanted to see their kids perform had to pay $10 to get in—and some of us saw Rent  more than once. 

Should taxes be raised instead?  Music, theater, and sports have always been part of the school, supported by the whole community. Is it right for longtime residents, whose children have had the benefits of a school full of programs community-supported, to deny that access to others?

Under what circumstances is it acceptable? When the tax rate has gone up 50 percent? 100 percent? 300 percent?

Snip by snip, the board has pruned the current budget spreadsheet into acceptability—well, more or less, and I suppose it depends on what any given person considers acceptable. The point is that even getting this far took cutting jobs and dipping into the reserve fund.  Next year, with the easier, more obvious cuts made and the reserve fund spent down, it won’t be possible to defer the harder decisions. And the budgeting process for 2010–2011 will start sooner than you think.

What do you want Mr. Shaps and the Board of Ed to know as they consider the options?

--Posted by Karen Cure

 

Opinions are those of the individual blogger

Board Proposes Revised Budget

On April 13 the Hastings School Board proposed a budget for 2009-2010, which was presented to the public on April 20^th. This reflects a budget process outlined below:

Date	% Property Tax Increase	Tax Rate Increase	Budget to Budget Increase
2/9	3.45	2.78	2.89
3/6	2.44	1.78	2.05
4/13	1.11	0.47	2.38

For taxpayers, the 4/13 budget allowed for a wallet-friendly school tax rate increase of 0.47% over last year.  However, the actual budget-to-budget increase of 2.38% is higher than the Board’s March 6^th proposed increase. How did March’s 2.05% jump to 2.38% while the tax rate increase we will pay fell? An influx of federal stimulus money offset the difference. Hastings citizens will vote on the budget on May 19^th.

At this time The Hastings Alliance for Affordable Taxes does not have any recommendation on whether the residents should vote in favor or against the budget. Below is an enumeration of arguments for and against voting on the budget.

Pro:
1) It seems the Board has shown sensitivity to the current economic conditions in keeping the increases to a minimum.
2) The Board has responded to challenges by some members of the community and scaled back the initial increase of 1.78% which was itself lower than 2008-2009 increase and significantly lower than previous years.
3) This is a good foundation on which the Hastings community can build on for a cooperative relationship with the Board in the coming years that will be even more challenging requiring larger compromises.
4) An increase of 0.47% does not constitute an undue burden on tax payers considering that the Board has to keep increases in salaries and costs in perspective.
5) The Board has shown courage in making adjustments in hiring and other cost cutting measures they adopted in the face of pressures from special interest groups.

Con:
1) It seems the Board has not shown enough sensitivity to the current economic conditions. Specifically, they do not seem to fully grasp the severity of the economic crisis among many Hastings residents. Some members of the board appeared to be show skepticism about the results of the survey that the Alliance conducted on its blog.
2) The Board has adopted the strategy of making minor adjustments in budget allocations. The same strategy is on display in their new proposal of 0.47% increase. The Board is either incapable or unwilling to make bold changes that the altered economic landscape requires.
3) Judging from their comments and questions in public hearings as well as their final proposal it is clear they consider themselves more as the guardians of the school system than the public at large. The Alliance has tried to bring home the sentiment that a large majority of residents, including parents with school age children as well as some teachers find the school taxes
unaffordable.
4) The budget should be voted down because it is the only way to convince the Board that there is a majority which is opposed to tax increases.
5) The budget should be voted down because it is the only way to demonstrate to the Teachers Union, during the ongoing contract negotiations, that the Hastings community finds the currents tax rate unaffordable and will find it even more so in the future.

Posted By

Naseem Jamali