Just a few questions ...

Although the School Committee hasn't met in two weeks, they won't be meeting today either. Apparently because today is the 5th Wednesday -- and they only meet on the 1st & 3rd Wednesday -- God forbid we disrupt "routine" for something as silly as a projected $2.5 million deficit!

They will, however, be meeting with their counsel on the 30th to discuss the latest chapter in the Superintendent Saga -- now that her counsel has called them out on the fact that they had no apparent understanding of the Open Meeting Law.

They'll probably also be discussing the Minkoff case -- maybe they could do a "two-fer" -- settle both contracts and then sue the school attorney for bad advice and collect an equivalent settlement from his malpractice carrier. Somebody told them they could fire Minkoff and someone told them they could disregard Johnson's contract. IF that advice was in error, then "somebody" should pay for that error -- other than the students & taxpayers of Sandwich!

While we're waiting for some great revelations, here's a few questions I would like to see answers for:

1)    If the budget needs to be cut by $2.5 million next year, what is the Board's plan?  A majority of the Committee has made it clear that they have no confidence in the Superintendent -- yet the magnitude of these budget cuts will require a tremendous amount of collaboration with the Superintendent to ensure the District properly balances public expectations and fiscal realities in the next budget.  To date, there has been no such discussions.  This budget is unlike the other budgets for the past several years -- there will be serious cuts and program eliminations.  The Committee can't sit back and wait for a proposal so they can shoot it down -- like they do everything else proposed by this administration.  There is not enough time to play these games and still get a budget in front of Town Meeting in May.  And there is no way on God's green earth that those antics will ever help pass an override -- if anybody is actually contemplating asking for one.

Does anyone on the Committee have the, ah ... guts, to take on the Athletic boosters -- or are we just going to cancel the art, music, drama, and history classes, fire a few janitors, secretaries and librarians, and implement bus fees?

How Bad is the Budget Going To Be ?

A picture is worth a thousand words ....

Walt Disney has Mickey, We have George The Weasel

George The Weasel
Our NEW Official Mascot!

NotThePTA earned a penny so far today from ad revenue (click those damn ads -- I have a kid in College!).  To be a greater commercial success, I decided to follow Walt Disney's lead and adopt a mascot!

Disney had Mickey, Exxon had The Tiger (and The Exxon Valdez!), Sesame Street has Kermit, and Mercury has that (soon to be unemployed) brunette that has been trying to sell me a car for years.  And then it hit me -- the mascot should be an illustration of something we deal with on a regular basis.

Hence, the birth of George The Weasel!

I am not sure what George's new duties will be --- maybe he will have his own float in next year's Fourth of July Parade! (There's always room for one more weasel at that event!).

Details to follow....  (I need to go click some ads!)

Even More Clarification

Somebody asked:   "Please show me where in the cct where they said the town clerk filed with the court.  It was a formal complaint to the DA'S office."  (It was an anonymous post, but I bet you a nickel his paycheck has "Cape Cod Times" printed at the top!)  Attached please find:

Copy of Inquiry Letter from Town Clerk to DA's Office 


Copy of the letter from the Supt's attorney to School Counsel.

As you can see from the attached, the filing was made with the DA's office -- but it was NOT a "complaint" --  it was an "inquiry".  The letter was even clearly labelled as an "inquiry", and I do not believe the word "complaint" is included anywhere therein.  If he had actually read the letter, he would have understood WHY the term "complaint" would have been significant.


The term "complaint" specifically means a filing seeking court action.  Under law, a "complaint" must be sought within 21 days.  Apparently, neither School Counsel nor certain members of the School Committee read the rules before they dug in their heels -- because (as pointed out several times previously) nobody thought to file one!


I actually received a series of 3 emails from this anonymous person -- but I delayed a response until I had a chance to publish these documents.  Humorously, his final post ended with "To bad you like to slant things to the negative thinkers".  


Holy Catfish, you'd think I was the one working for the Cape Cod Times!!

Just to clarify ...

Far be it from me to question the high quality reporting of the Cape Cod Times, but ...

The town Clerk did not file a complaint with anybody regarding the issue of Open Meeting laws and the vote on the Superintendent's contract -- he made an inquiry with the DA. It's a world of difference.

A complaint means that a lawsuit was filed and a judge's ruling was sought. AND, as has been stated ad nauseum, there has been no court filing and the 21 day deadline for filing one passed long ago.

I would have assumed that the asstute (not a misspelling!) professionals at the CCT would have known the difference.

This issue has been discussed several times previously (Click here).

The Attorney's letter will be posted shortly.

Problem Solved !!!

The Community School Audit

Maybe I'm getting paranoid ... but, once upon a time any discussion of irregularities or inefficiencies in Community School operations by School Committee members would draw cries of "interference, lack of understanding, mean-spiritness, blah, blah, blah ..." in the local press and from "concerned citizens" (who were also frequently Community School employees!)

But, this week, a draft of the Community School audit confirming these same problems was finally produced and discussed by the Committee and what did we hear ?   (insert cricket noise here!)

Nothing.

The draft audit report is a public document--   Here are some of the highlights:

1)    The Community School operated at a substantial ($180,000) loss for the year ended June 30, 2009 (That was the year BEFORE the School Committee took direct control of the program and eliminated the Executive Council).

2)    The cash balance shown on the Community School books doesn't match the amount of cash the Town thinks they have.  Nobody knows why -- the balances have never been reconciled.  It's tricky paying bills if you don't know what's in your checkbook!

And the award for dumbest comment goes to ...

There's a separate post and a draft copy of the Community School Audit report coming online shortly -- but I've been overwhelmed with emails about this doozy...

Last April, the Community School's auditor came before the School Committee and explained that he could not certify their Balance Sheet because their cash balance did not match the cash balance on the Town Accountant's ledgers.  Although the Town Accountant reconciled cash to the bank each month, the Community School never reconciled their cash balance to the Town. This is very poor internal control and could easily allow errors to remain undetected.  This issue was discussed at great length that evening.

This week, almost 5 months later, the Auditor returned with a draft report and, again, discussed the fact that the cash balances don't match.  Mrs. Linehan, however, appeared startled/confused and says, "Cash, you mean like dollars ... or checks?"

It's bad enough that she doesn't know what "cash" is -- but she apparently had no comprehension of the prior discussion when the serious internal control flaw was first discussed.

Forget the $30 million budget, forget the $2.5 million deficit, forget the impending lay-offs, and forget the serious internal control flaws --- let's talk about some more copier contracts !!

An Anonymous Contribution ...

Bob,  after viewing the School Committee meeting on Wednesday night I thought you might like to add this to your blog!

Actually, I was thinking more like ...

 

What happened to my $30 Million ? (By Bob Guerin)

This would be a good spot for a Pie Chart.
But, I have no time, so Martha will have to do.



A good place to start when trying to review a budget and build a new budget is to understand where the money goes. So here, without judgment or assertion of relative value, is a very high level breakdown of the current school budget with additional factual supplemental data.

How much do the schools spend on salaries?
All Staff Salaries is $21,525,566 or about 71% of the total District budget.


How much do wages increase each year?
Average annual salary increase for calendar years 2004 through 2008 was 5.5%


How much do we spend on Special ed?
Special Education (including Special Ed salaries) is $7,553,957 or roughly 25% of the total District budget.


How many kids get Special Ed services?
Special Education services are provided to about 600 kids or about 16% of the student population. Of the 600, 45 or so Special Education students are provided out of district placement services at a cost of about $3,453,233 or 44% of the Special Education budget and 11% of the District budget.


What do we spend on heat and lights?
Utilities are $1,355,865 or roughly 5% of the budget. (Note: I transferred $500,000 from the originally approved school budget -- as posted on the internet -- and moved it to Special Ed. -- same as the Committee did this year)


How much do we spend on maintenance?
Custodial Services (including Custodial salaries) account for about 1,477,336 or roughly 5% of the budget.  


How much do we spend on buses?
Transportation is $1,509,050 or roughly 5% of the budget.


How much do we spend on sports?
Athletics is $327,616 or roughly 1% of the budget.

The full detailed budget for the current year ending June 30, 2011 is available online by clicking here.