Sean Gonsalves wrote a good article in the Cape Cod Times this AM questioning the basic fairness of Sandwich parents paying fees while effectively subsidizing Community School swim memberships for the good folks of Cotuit, Mashpee, Falmouth, etc. (click here for article)
Just to be clear, there is no line in the School Budget that says "Contribution to Community School". But there are lines for utility expenses, maintenance, etc. If the Community School doesn't reimburse the District for its share of those costs, the District is, in effect, making that contribution.
9 comments:
Seems pretty clear to me ...
I paid a lot of money to park at Barnstable beaches this summer -- why should I pay extra school fees so those people can swim cheaply?
It's not just the pool that Gonzales is getting at. It is the whole operation and the fact that it has been draining education dollars and school resources. I thought he was right on. In fact, I could hardly believe how spot on he is. Good idea, worthy institution, but the trend of Community Schools in school buildings is past and ongoing consideration has to be given to the economics of it.
Time to look at the mission for current times and be mindful of the economics of it. The School District is about educating our children. The Community School is taking way too much time, energy, and resources. It needs to be modified drastically. We can't afford it any longer.
When CS makes money it is making it to pay staff. If they can't return a meaningful amount of their profits to capital, it is a problem, when you consider they operate out of a school/town building that needs maintenance, upkeep, and energy. If they can't contribute their fair share to the pool operational cost in consideration of their time in control of it, we have a problem. It can be fixed but first the problem has to be identified and accepted by all the stakeholders and by stakeholders I mean the people who are responsible to the Sandwich taxpayers as stewards of our tax dollar. Policy can no longer be about a nice idea. It has to be part of creating a financial future. The word used is sustainability.
It is hard to break away from the "cottage industry" mentality, but we have to where the schools are concerned.
Seems clear to me too and thank you Dr. Canfield. You have made solid progress in initiating real reform, which looks like what Sandwich needs ASAP. Now let's see if the School Committee can move this forward. Hope it doesn't just become another spitting match.
I have no problem with the Community School. But it needs to be in the Recreation Department, as do all of its expenses. Let's put it there and get our school committee in the business of administrating the schools.
The CS was a fantastic distraction under Marshall Law......but those days are over. I have little faith in a trustee/advisory board will have any impact in terms of rearranging the deck furniture on the Titanic. All the heavy lifting has been brought to light by the audit. Additionally, Bob G. and Bob S. have steadfastly maintained that the pool simply costs more to run than it brings in. Each and every year that difference is made up with educational dollars. Every fifth grader can know that they are shortchanged in order to keep the man from Cotuit in the banana hammock happy. Yup.....isn't that grand?
Gross!
Anon 2:56 PM I tend to agree with you but I don't think the town wants the Community School back or recreation to expand in that way. The town's first comeback would be they don't have enough staff. Plus a negotiation like that....frankly there is no political will for that it appears. On top of that there aren't many if any in town government able to negotiate that.
The current form of government being rather provincial and antiquated inhibits progress of that nature. The chairs of boards along with town management doesn't really act on things that aren't on their agenda's. Chairs change every year, so agenda's change ever year and town staff has their own agendas. They tolerate elected and appointed officials and have to maintain their status quo for the most part given this political roller coaster ride. It seems very difficult to even find the framework for such a discussion given the nature and culture of our town government.
The selectman's long range plan maybe...but only if the selectman think it can be pulled off and who has time as part time selectman to bring it together, given the merry-go-round mentioned above.
That's the problem dealing with elected folks -- the only qualification they need for the job is to be less annoying than the person they are running against. OR -- they must support the interests of a specific group of people who actually will show up to vote in order to preserve their self-interest.
I have to assume that that Kangas lady is in the second group .... there couldn't be anybody MORE annoying than her!!
If the pool closes what happens to the high school swim team. How many hours of usage do they use and what is their expense for using the pool.
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