BOE 2004-2005 Budget

This years BOE (Board of Education) budget is out and on Tuesday, April 20, 2004, citizens will vote on it. TUF has been attending the BOE meetings and we have spent considerable time studying the 3-inch thick document. Needless to say it is a complicated and is difficult to read. Here are the highlights.

The 2004-2005 operating budget is $89.3 million. This is up from last year's budget of $88.0 M by 1.44%. Because of state and federal funding (which of course is also tax money) as well as other resources property taxes are not required to pay for it all. Thus the vote on the 20th will be for a tax levy of $79.8 M up from $77.3 M last year (3.23%). You can add to that the tax to pay for the BOE debt (primarily paying off the new high school) that has held steady at about $5.5 M. Thus the total tax levy for the BOE was $82.9 M last year and is $85.4 M this year (3.03%). Since the school budget accounts for about 62% of the property tax levy, if nothing else changed this would increase your taxes 1.88% or $19 for every $1000 you are already paying.

TUF is divided on what to recommend.

Phillip Kramer believes the following.

It is an enormous budget that deals in total with $100 million and roughly a thousand employees. It is a monster to put together and to understand. Despite spending hours trying to decipher it we have only scratched the surface. I commend the BOE for their hard work and for holding down the increase to %3.03 (as the tax payers will feel it).

We cannot find any bombshells but there are trends in spending that seem questionable. In defense of the BOE most of this cannot be changed at this time because the spending is predetermined by contracts negotiated in the past. My biggest concerns center not on this budget but on future labor negotiations and how they will impact future budgets.

Because I can find nothing that can be done differently in this budget I support it. However the trends force me to make my support tentative.

Addendum - After reading Chip's comments below I have made one change. I agree with sending a message by not voting for the incumbent board members. I also agree that Mike Kanarek appears to be making an effort to not rubber stamp all proposals. For that he deserves some support. If he gets more votes than his counterparts then the board will get the message, "We don't like what you are doing but we like Mr. Kanarek's point of view". So vote for Mike Kanarek, yourself and your neighbor.

Chip Hoever believes the following

First I would like to commend Mr. John Calavano (BOE Secretary and Business Administrator) for the hard work he put into the budget and for trying to hold the line on spending. Unfortunately it's too little, too late. For the past 10 years, give or take, the BOE has been spending like crazy. There is not doubt in my mind that the outrageous spending would not have been curtailed had it not been for the overwhelming outcry from the taxpayers during the last year.

TUF started almost a year ago BECAUSE of this spending - and our mission goes on. The BOE talks about "spiraling enrollment" - but never speak about "spiraling spending" which increases far faster than the cost of living. They blame everyone in the world except those responsible for the spending. They blame "spiraling enrollment", "unfunded mandates", "no child left behind", etc. The public complain about poor test scores and the answers are always the same: "what district are you comparing us against", "we have a very diverse mix of students", "we are socio-economically challenged". They put too much energy into spin and into public relations spin rather than saying "yes, you are right, we need to try harder". Instead, they make excuses on WHY they CAN'T do better.

Throwing more money at the problem is not going to make it go away. Building a new high school is not going to make it go away. Blaming the County, State, and Federal Governments is not going to make it go away. The only thing that is going to start making a difference is when the BOE stops making excuses for mediocrity and starts demanding excellence. They keep telling us - "This is the best we can do because that's the best we have in Franklin". I don't believe it.

The only thing worse than the mediocrity they defend is the lack of participation of the general public and the lack of willingness of residents of Franklin to step up and run for a seat on the Board of Education. Each year we have incumbents run unopposed. If you want to lower taxes, curtail spending. If you want to curtail spending - change the Board of Education. For now - VOTE NO on the proposed school budget and DON'T VOTE for the all of the incumbents. Vote for Mike Kanarek (the one incumbent running that is working in the right direction) and write in yourself and a neighbor. It's time to send another message to the BOE!