The Invisible Watch Dogs

The Invisible "Budget Watch Dog"  --- The only "transparent" part of the School Budget !

I like the idea of kids using iPads.  

One of my kids is getting an SHS iPad.  My wife and I both carry iPads.  I also carry a laptop, and a smartphone.  I usually have 4 Computers running on my desk, and I supervise several networks with almost 200 computers of various flavors.    I will admit to being a Computer Geek.

I see computers as an essential tool that should be an integral part of  education -- not something that is locked away in a computer lab to be visited once or twice a week.  I think its a great idea that kids are expected to take the iPads home and "live with them".  That's the best way to learn ---- when nobody is staring at you, or distracting you.  Professionally, when I am training employees who have never used a computer, I always encourage them to take a portable machine home with them and play with it --- do whatever they want to get comfortable with it, and then come back and see me about any problems they may encounter.  Limiting what a user can do or access on a machine also limits what they can learn and may limit their enthusiasm to learn more.  (That being said, I absolutely despise Facebook!  -- but that's another story.  No, I won't be your friend!!)

I also think the SHS Tech staff has done a good job orientating a lot of students (and their parents!) on the care and use of their  new "tools".  Their professionalism and enthusiasm is infective and will be a major factor in success of this program.  Their efforts are even more exemplary given the machines' "sudden" arrival.

The "sudden" arrival is the problem.

I can't comprehend how such a major technology initiative could be implemented with no public discussion, and apparently no School Committee involvement.  

The obvious question (which still hasn't been answered) is how did we "find" $250,000 at the same time we eliminated bus fees, bought bleachers, and returned an undetermined amount of money to the Town's General Fund?   Particularly when just 3 months earlier, this same group had been pleading with the BOS and FinCom for more money?

I assume they must have also pre-bought some of their FY '13 supplies, and prepaid some of their FY '13 SPED tuitions.

Is there any money put aside for potential legal settlements -- or are we burning Atlanta to eliminate resources for opposing forces?

How much extra money was actually out there?

Why hasn't the School Committee asked those questions?   Why has there been no budget discussion of any sort yet? Why has the Committee not taken any recent votes to transfer money between buget lines?  Unlike other Town Depts, the School Committee is allowed to transfer money between budget lines without further  approval (a legal right which I have always supported).  BUT...  they do need to publically discuss and vote on transfers -- presumably BEFORE the money is spent!

What has happened to the self-proclaimed "Budget Watchdogs" ?  What about all of that babbling we heard about transparency?   

What about next year?  Deservedly or not, the School Department's budget credibility has always been on thin ice.  After this budgetary Mardi Gras, not even our new million fire boat (for which we have no additional local funding for staffing or maintenance) will be able to rescue them!

A new Rescue Boat .... for the Community Pool?

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime ? (by Bob Guerin)

Surplus?  Deficit?  Guess the cup and win a Free iPad !!

Imagine your brother coming to you and asking for money.

What for? - you ask.

He says: “new house.”

Setting aside the very obvious question of do you have the money to spend.

Might you want to know: where he’s building? What he’s building? Might you not want to see a written plan? Wouldn’t you ask about less expensive options? Wouldn’t you want to see those plans too? I’d bet there would be lots of detailed discussion and conversation. 

How Dr. Canfield continues to get away with publically touting $10, $15 and $40 million dollar school spending projects without presenting a lick of detail, a single written page of plan or a demand for the details from the silent and disengaged school committee is beyond me. 

Nobody would accept “I’ll get you the details to you later” from a brother asking for a sizable loan – why is it that Dr. Canfield seems to be skating by with the very same response to spending plans of more than $15 million? Or, maybe the School Committee is still busy trying to figure out how, when and why Dr, Canfield purchased the iPads? 

Unbelievable.

The Buck is passed ...

And, the dance continues ...

This isn't necessarily a complaint, or a criticism, just an observation.

After years of trying to deny there was any issue with the Community School Pool, the School Department finally acknowledged there were obvious issues with both the pool losing money and with strangers wandering the allegedly "secured" halls of SHS.  

The new official mantra has become "The Pool is a COMMUNITY asset, and the COMMUNITY must  be willing to pay for it."

I don't disagree.

It's amusing that the Rec Dept, which has been collecting money for their free use of school-funded facilities, wants nothing to do with operating the pool.  It's also interesting that the "nearest" pool with a diving board is on Nantucket.  Apparently, no other local District feels that a Diving team is worth the expense of building/renting a pool.   

The Superintendent made it clear that he is expecting a Community contribution if the pool is to remain open.   But, he also left a little "wiggle room" with the idea that the pool might also become incorporated into school phys ed classes (which could justify the school paying more of the costs).

Not unreasonable.

If the school actually uses the pool, it could justify absorbing more costs.  My biggest gripe has always been the fact that the School District pays a hugely disproportionate portion of pool costs -- while the Community School received all pool revenue.

Of course, no meeting could go by without at least a couple of inane comments.  Pool Employee Crossman said something about the School Dept. paying "only $5,000 towards the swim team's use of the pool".    Well, duh!  The School District was also paying the pool's entire utility bill!

Her second comment was something about the reason Town Meeting  had set up Community School / Pool operations the way they had -- and that "somebody" should look at why it was set-up that way.  Good thinking.  We've been discussing this for 5 years --- is this the first time THAT idea occurred?

To save "somebody" some time --  There are probably two reasons for the current structure.  State law says the School Committee is responsible for school facilities.  And, in "the good old days" (pre-Prop 2 1/2). Schools could write their own budgets.  It would then be up to Town to raise the taxes as needed to cover the School Committee's budget.  (It was easy being on the School Committee back then!)

By putting the pool in a school building, the Town ensured that property taxes would cover pool costs.

Then, the world changed.  After Prop 2 1/2, School Budgets became subject to local control and the free ride ended.  Since then,  the increasingly tight school budget has been complicated by the increasing costs of operating an aging swimming pool.

I would have thought a School Committee member (and former Community School Council member) would have understood that.

There is another interesting wrinkle in the effort to build support for Town funding of Pool operations.   After a long, but unsuccessful, battle  for additional FY '13 funding, the Schools used "left over" FY '12 money to buy 450 +/- unbudgeted iPads, unbudgeted new portable bleachers, eliminate the budgeted transportation fees, and give an undetermined amount of money back to the Town.  They did not use the "found" money to fund FY '13 SPED tuitions -- which would have eliminated their earlier projected "deficit".

I wonder if the BOS & FinCom members that supported the School's request for extra funding will continue to be as supportive ?


Nitpicking aside, I can see the Pool issue getting kicked all the way to Town Meeting.  Every person along the way can say how important the pool is -- and then when it comes time to actually vote the funding at Town Meeting, 32 elderly pool supporters will show up, nobody else will bother to argue with them, and the article will pass.  No Bad Guys voting to shut the Pool.  Everybody wins!

Or, maybe they can do a package deal -- surrender the Wing School to the Town; as long as they take the Pool too!

Court Rejects School Committee's Appeal of Johnson case

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected the School Committee's appeal of the ruling by the State Appeals Court in the Mary Ellen Johnson case.

Bottom line:  As expected, she has a valid contract.  Even IF there was an Open Meeting Law violation (which has not been proven), the School Committee did not follow statute in their efforts to invalidate the contract.

http://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/display_docket.php?dno=FAR-20917

I smell a very expensive settlement coming down the road.....

It's too bad the District just spent all of their "left over" budget money on iPads, Bleachers, Bus fees, etc. !!

Quote of the Week .... (Anonymous)

"I like the new Superintendent, but 

it's amusing to see the self declared

"Budget Watch Dogs" now humping his leg!" 

Anybody out there?

A Task Force is being formed to determine
the feasibility of wrapping all Town
residents & guests in Bubble Wrap

Just to re-count our most recent local accomplishments:

On the Town side:

1)  Banned Water Guns from July 4th Parade - Water guns don't soak people, People soak people!

2)  Banned non-employees, including firefighters' families, from riding fire trucks in July 4 Parade

3)  Effectively eliminated fire trucks from July 4 Parade (see #2)

4) Discussed banning Bridge-Jumping (Scorton -- not Sagamore!)

5)  Appointed 28 people to a substance abuse task force.  Given  the amount of pointless self-serving pontification which occurs on the most benign topic during a meeting of the 5 member BOS; I can not imagine what will happen if 28 people try to discuss an important topic.  Maybe we should alert Cape Wind and try to tap the hot air?  (I hope they don't cause MORE substance abuse by those attending the meetings!)

On the School side:

1)  Eliminated Cupcakes in School -- this would be easier to swallow (nyuk, nyuk!) if it was "spun" as a way to decrease the amount of school time wasted on non-educational activities -- like Disney Movies, irrelevant field trips, etc.  The idea that the School District feels a need to save kids from their parents is disturbing.  On the other hand, there are some legitimate food allergy issues .... (ie. Blame the wasted time ---- don't blame the allergic kids!)

2)  Admitted that the School District will be unable to continue supporting  The Community School Pool.  This is a "two-fer" -- (A) they are admitting they HAVE been supporting it and (B) they are admitting they are unable to continue to support it.  (Where have I been hearing that  for the past several years?) 

3)  Admitted that there is a security risk having unknown Community School patrons off the street roaming around the building during the day -- not to mention roaming naked in the locker rooms with the kids.  The funny thing is that NOW there is discussion of the last NEASC accreditation that complained about this problem 10 years ago.  Yet, long-time School Committee / Community School Council members not only ignored the recommendations 10 years ago -- they have continued to vehemently deny there even WAS an issue for the past 4 years!  Where's that angry lynch mob that pursued those that spoke out in favor of improved pool security a few years ago?

4)  Filed for the legal equivalent of a "Hail Mary Pass" by asking for an SJC review of a very definitive ruling by three very experienced Justices of the State Appeals Court that overturned a flawed ruling by a single Barnstable County Judge with almost 30 days experience on the bench.  If nothing else, its a good attempt to run the clock down and probably push an unpopular settlement discussion into next year -- when the two remaining members that caused the problem will have probably disappeared back into anonymity.

5)  Settled the Teachers' contract after almost 3 years of very contentious discussion.  The amusing thing is that the union could have had a better deal if they had settled three years ago.  But, then they would have lost the opportunity to really piss off a lot of people - and generally maximize ill will towards the School Department and all of its employees.  On the Bright Side, the new contract now allows the union to collect an Agency fee from EVERY teacher -- even those unwilling to join the union.  Maybe some of these new "non-union" union members will now be willing to step up and take control of this train wreck.

6)  The District has announced that ALL SHS freshmen & sophomores will be issued free iPad computers.  This is a GREAT development!   It would be even greater if the School Committee understood (A) how they were being paid for or (B) how they would be used.  Assuming 500 units at a discounted price of $300 each, that's $150,000 that was "invested" with absolutely no public discussion or explanation.  There was never a vote to either transfer funds between budget lines -- or approve any leases.  Were there even any bids?  If they have to vote to accept bids for cafeteria supplies, why weren't there any bids for $150,000 worth of computers?  Why has there been no publicity?  If we have to keep hearing that adding a Girl's Volleyball Team will help student retention -- why aren't we hearing that we're giving away 500 Apple iPads?  THAT should help student retention!
------UPDATE:  THE CCT REPORTS 450 MACHINES WERE BOUGHT AT $550 EACH -- TOTAL COST = $247,500.  

7)  After months of hand-wringing and moaning during the last budget season (just 4 months ago), The District has managed to eliminate Bus Fees, buy maybe $150,000 worth of new computers (just a guesstimate), and make an unbudgeted purchase of new portable bleachers.  There's also discussion of a "give back" of unused Budget funds to the Town.  The law allows excess funds to be used to prepay SPED tuitions for the coming year -- something that was always done (until last year).  If the FY '13 budget is going to be tight, wouldn't it make sense to roll forward as much money as possible from FY '12?

Don't get me wrong.  I think Dr. Canfield is doing a good job -- his political talent and skills have wrapped him in Kevlar, Teflon & Bubble Wrap.  I hope he will now utilize his magical powers to start re-focusing his troops and remind them that The District is being run by the Superintendent -- not the SEA.  (It's distressing seeing certain Committee members almost swoon at his feet when those same members almost lynched his predecessor for saying the same thing!)

Of course, it would be nice if the School Committee tuned in to the process -- maybe ask some questions occasionally?

Swimming With Alligators - The Community School Pool (7/19/2010)

I've been seeing a lot of revisionist history lately --- some folks are asking the same questions that were asked and answered many times previously. I want to make the record very clear -- but, rather than wasting more time, I am rerunning the below post which was made almost exactly two years ago -- in July of 2010!

It's ironic that we are having the exact same discussion two years later!

I am not a big fan of crowds or chlorine, but I do enjoy water. I’ve been know to splash around in a pool – although never in any strenuous, or organized fashion. I would much prefer to hang on the side, sip an adult beverage and contemplate humanity as we know it – and, of course, soak up a few rays.

This laid back outlook is a far cry from the position exhibited by the very vocal supporters of the Sandwich Community School Pool.

This conflict raised its ugly head when a review of the Community School financial statements showed that several operating expenses of the pool were actually being paid by the high school or other Community School programs -- hardly the end of the Earth, but not great business either. The responses I received from most “Pool People” were either (a) No, they’re not or (b) So, what if they are?

The problem was that nobody seemed to know exactly WHAT it cost to operate the pool. This is an important distinction because the revenue generated by the pool needs to be matched against the cost of operating the pool. The simple concept that I tried to sell was: “If the pool costs more than it collects, it is losing money”.

If the pool is losing money, it means somebody else is paying the bills – either the patrons of other Community School programs or, the taxpayers who are paying to operate the high school building. While this idea didn’t bother the Pool People – it did bother many taxpayers and many other Community School customers who were already paying their own bills, and didn’t feel like chipping in to subsidize the cost of somebody else’s dip in the pool.

Kissing the Third Rail -- A Blast From the Past (July 27, 2010)

If discussing the Community Pool is similar to swimming with Alligators, dealing with the Community School itself is not unlike kissing the third rail. (for those NOT from Dorchester – google “MBTA and electrocution”)

I need to stress that the Community School is a great concept – it encourages full utilization of some of the Town’s biggest assets (its school buildings) which would otherwise sit empty after 4 PM most days. It also provides lifelong learning opportunities for residents of Sandwich and surrounding towns to take courses in whatever subject may interest them. It is a terrific program and I have yet to meet anybody who did not want to see it succeed and prosper well into the future.

NOBODY wants to shut down the Community School!

One More time -- NOBODY wants to shut down the Community School!

This program has the potential for being a very cost-effective method of providing the service – the facilities are already there – the only issue should be how much EXTRA does it cost the School District to allow the public to use the building for the additional time?

Specifically:

• Cleaning costs - janitorial labor & cleaning supplies

• Utility costs - heating and lighting the building in the evening

• Other costs - off-hours snow & ice removal, additional security

• Administrative costs – additional labor to operate programs

• Program-specific costs – The Pool, computers, Drivers Ed sub-contractor, etc.

Stating the obvious ...... Finally!

I have no doubt that Dr. Canfield realized the depth of the pool problem (no pun intended) long ago.

BUT, the shrewd politician that he is, I also have no doubt that he saw what happened to his predecessor who was practically drawn and quartered for supporting a prior School Committee's efforts to bring financial accountability to the Community School.

As we have seen over and over, if you cut reading, writing, or arithmetic, people might quietly bitch among themselves, but generally the only public outcry is a stifled yawn.

But, if you propose any changes which may impact Pool Users, The Community School, Sandwich Youth Soccer, or any other private group which benefits from the use of publicly-maintained facilities -- God help you, you mean-spirited SOB!

Meeting rooms would immediately fill with uninformed elderly swimmers and equally uninformed angry sports parents. Nobody cared that Sandwich tax dollars were being diverted from the K-12 education budget to support the entertainment of a small group of people (many of whom did not even live in Sandwich).

The Angry Crowd would just storm in, have their tantrum, and then storm out. Nobody bothered to stay for the part of the meeting where the budget cuts were discussed -- they only heard that they might be asked to pay for the extra services that other taxpayers had been providing to them for free.

Unfortunately, nobody ever speaks out against the Angry Crowd. The few School Committee members that have spoken out either got fed up and left, or were targeted to be replaced by inexperienced, unprofessional, drones whose sole purpose was to represent the special interests of their supporters, and seek vengeance for any perceived effort to change the status quo.

Canfield is no fool.

He installed new management at the Community School, and waited until folks got comfortable, --- and then he raised the issue that has been obvious to the (maybe) 6 people who have paid any attention.

He has even been framing it nicely --- the pool is a wonderful asset to the entire community. But, if the Town's taxpayers want to continue to provide this benefit, than they will have to vote the funds to pay for it. The School Department will no longer redirect dollars from the K-12 education budget to subsidize pool operations.

And, by the way, no more Community School people wandering around the building during the day

The last time this public access issue was raised, there was a public outcry against the former Superintendent and some School Committee members. We could spend thousands on Building security -- but for $50 you could buy a pool pass and wander around the locker room naked with the high school kids. "The Hell with security --- "SHE" won't let people in the building!"

This time, the silence is deafening. Maybe because the Emptyprize "forgot" to put these items in their story last week? Where's the bitchy editorials, the interviews with the usual suspects, and the one-sided, half-assed stories which seem to have been written before meetings even happen?

It seems allowing strangers to wander around the school (even with their clothes on) is frowned upon by the group that handles high school accreditation. Gee, could they have the same concerns about school safety that the prior Superintendent and School Committee members had raised?

I like the Groundhogs Day analogy. We are right back to where we were three years ago. Except, we have wasted three years of effort, and tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees which could have have gone into improving the school system.

And, somebody's professional reputation was trashed.

Nice work.

Deja Vu All Over Again ... (by Bob Guerin)

"I got Nuthin! "  said the Groundhog ...

In the movie Groundhog Day, Actor Bill Murray portrays a weatherman who finds himself living the same day over and over again.

Here in Sandwich, it’s the School Committee that seems to be reliving their yesterdays.

About the only difference between life in Sandwich and life in the Murray movie is that here in town it’s all about the community school pool not Punxsutawney Phil.

Don’t believe me? Read this week’s Sandwich Broadsider.

This week’s paper reports that Superintendent C. Richard Canfield has broached the idea about the town picking up utility and chemical costs for Sandwich High School pool operations. “I think its discussion we should be having,” Canfield told the school committee. “The cost for utilities and chemicals is $60,000. This would preserve the pool. Otherwise, we’d have to work away from that and say we just cannot absorb the cost.”

Did Dr. Canfield really say this is a discussion we should be having?

Bob Simmons and I began this very “discussion” 6-, 8-, maybe 10-years ago!

Much like Bill Murray’s character in the movie, after reading this week’s paper, I am wondering if anybody else but me is experiencing a sickening sense of Déjà vu?