A quick review of recent Agendas for both the Board of Selectmen and School Committee shows that The Community School is once again popping up on the municipal radar. It seems the $5,000 pool part arrived and then something else broke. The pool may still be shut down -- but it does look prettier with that new $5,000 Thingamajig attached to it.
It's hard to overlook the basic Pool issues -- (1) It has been heavily subsidized by both the K-12 budget and by the patrons of other Community School programs for years. And (2), members of the general public were not only able to completely bypass school security by buying a pool ticket -- they were also allowed to roam naked with the kids in the locker room during the day .... at no additional charge! (Parents, however, still needed a CORI to accompany their own kids on a field trip -- despite the fact they were also presumably required to keep their clothes on!)
Just think of the amount of time that has been wasted arguing these issues over the past few years. Can anyone really keep a straight face and say they were OK with reducing funding to their kids' classrooms in order to provide the nice people in Barnstable, Mashpee, etc. with an opportunity to wander naked with our kids and swim at a reduced price?
Strangely, some people have not only managed to keep a straight face -- but also fought vociferously to maintain status quo. (Hopefully, voters will remember that serious lack of judgement if Kangas and Crossman consider muddling through another three year term.)
It now appears that the Community School may have once again found itself unable to cover its entire payroll liability to the Town. This first happened several years ago when the Community School was allowed to rent commercial space to equip and run a dance studio. Not surprisingly, the program was a fiscal disaster and the Town had to loan the School Committee money to cover the Community School's payroll tax obligations. Eventually, the studio was closed and a private group purchased the equipment and has been operating it ever since -- presumably at a profit.
Dr. Canfield is way too polite, and way too politically savvy to launch an all-out attack on Pool programs. He doesn't need to -- he can just wait for the program to eventually collapse under its own weight. He has raised a good point -- although students are now finally being allowed more opportunities to use the pool, the pool is definitely an asset to the entire community -- not just the Schools. If the Community feels strongly enough about the pool to invest their tax dollars, they should be given the opportunity to vote a separate budget for it at Town Meeting. If Sandwich Taxpayers are unwilling to fund the Pool at Town Meeting, the next move is easy -- pull the plug and shut it down. There should certainly be no obligation for Sandwich taxpayers to take money away from their kids' classrooms to help fund the recreational activities of residents from other Towns.
What has Mashpee, Barnstable, Falmouth or Bourne ever done for YOU ?
5 comments:
Tonight’s School Committee meeting agenda includes the Community School. I am betting that the Superintendent reports that the Community Schools fiscal situation is dire. I bet that he will report that they can’t actually meet their obligations. Nothing new here; this has been true for a long time.
So what’s new?
What’s new is the fact that Dr Canfield has to have cut off the Community School from all School budget support. He must not be allowing the Budget Director (Michelle) to pick up the tab for the Community School. This long-time school budget support for the Community School was and is an accounting gimmick that’s gone on for years to prop up the constantly in deficit Community School but has never “officially” been acknowledged by anyone in government.
This financial mess is not new or news! Some in town and written audit reports have pointed out this budget house of cards since forever. It’s a shame that folks on the Sandwich School Board like Kangas, Crossman, Marshal, Linehan and others, and a completely negligent Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee, scored political points defending and protecting this budget albatross rather than actually trying to fix the problems. Our Community and the Community School deserved better.
Bob - do you have any thoughts on where the Community School is trying to go with the idea of a STEM preschool (combining the Community School preschool with a program at Heritage)? Does the Little Red Schoolhouse pay for itself?
So, according to Dr. Canfield, a potential solution to the Community School financial crisis might include: shifting facilities management to the Superintendent’s office, increasing field and building usage fees, detaching Driver Education from the Community School, improving Community School class pricing to match revenue and actual expenses; and, establishing and funding a capital repair plan for the pool.
These ideas are all so new and so novel! Sort of makes you wonder: Why didn’t anyone think of this before?
The Truth Maker would respond by asking?
Have you ever played the game with a pea and which shell is it under?
The pea can be under any shell as the hand is faster then the eye.
Trying to find the pea when it is not under any shell, is the game we are playing in real life,
We have no pea to find , nothing but hollow words, that have been stated by many over the years have been ignored. That is except for those who continue to support the pool debalkle.
Fees should have been generated long ago that match the operating cost of any program being conducted , especially when it takes educational dollars away from the children it is supposed to be used for.
No Guts, no glory and that is the truth of the matter here.
Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favour.
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