Nope not done yet

Nice Mess Pat. You and the SC lack of ethics and inability to handle situations have caused this disaster. YOU and MILLER destroyed these schools and whats worst were you were warned. First, you force out Dorion, than you decided to SETTLE with Miller knowing you were warned by Templeton and your own committee not to hire her, than.....the meeting in May 2015 you heard from hundreds of people to end this. We lost teachers, Admins, and more teachers and you just allowed the dominoes to fall. You protected Miller knowing full well what was going on. It should be YOU and this SC who pay this money that's needed or be made to work free till it is and of course supervised. Instead, you put this on taxpayers. SHAME ON YOU ALL.
Pat you and this SC heard about the abuse from Administrators Miller was causing and teachers and all you said was and I quote " what do you want me to do? It would cost us over 200,000.00 to pay out her contract" No concern for teachers or students, NONE!  Not to mention how many times have you been sued? Do taxpayers know about this or what you did to Mike Duprey? I am betting not, but we do :)
A once great happy school full of pride and spirit has now become rubble. GREAT JOB! You're at least good at destruction. 
ALL of this is on you Pat Shearer, ALL OF IT! If you had an ounce of respect for yourself, this school or its facility you would step down before you do more damage.

                                                  NOPE, not done yet.




NORTHFIELD — A draft of a new Pioneer Valley Regional School District agreement should be ready by the end of the year, and it may eliminate a section that requires local elementary schools in each town.
The draft is being developed by Stephen Hemman, assistant director of the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools, and his team of consultants hired by Pioneer’s HEART Committee. The consultants are to study and rewrite the district agreement. Hemman has been in contact with the HEART Committee for about a month, he said, but the consultants are only now beginning their work of reviewing the agreement.
“It’s going to be a very open process, very transparent so everyone sees it,” Hemman said.
The process will involve community meetings explaining what sections were changed, what was added and what was removed, Hemman said. He expects to have a draft of the agreement ready to present in community meetings by October or November.
The consultants’ work is partly directed by the HEART Committee’s requests. Among a change considered is the removal of the section requiring each town to have its own elementary school.

“Removing that section would open up options for the School Committee to look at,” said HEART Committee member Bob Keir. “There’s no requirement (to close schools) involved, but it opens up options.”
He added: “We’ve been dragging our feet, dragging our feet, dragging our feet for months and months and months, and I feel it’s time to take a stand.”

But Leyden and Warwick’s elementary schools won’t necessarily be doomed without that protecting requirement of the district agreement, Hemman said. There are options for individual towns to fund their own elementary schools without withdrawing from the district, options that can be incorporated into the new district agreement.
The issue of closing smaller elementary schools has come up again most recently as the district has discovered it has been running a $1 million deficit, and is now under pressure by the sate to find ways to rein in spending over the next two years. Closing elementary schools in Leyden or Warwick might be seen as a providing significant cost savings, but likely be resisted by the individual towns for whom local schools are a major source of community pride and identity.
“If it’s an expensive school to run and the other towns are having to help subsidize that, they have to look at that and see if they’re willing to pay to keep that open,” Hemman said. “When you have declining enrollments and small numbers, it becomes difficult to provide the types of services that you want for those children. But it’s the idea of having a school in your town. I clearly understand how people feel about having a school in their town.”
Other areas to be reviewed include a recall process for school board members, term limits and a change in the size of the committee.

Oh no you don't Pat Shearer

DO NOT and I mean DO NOT let Pat Shearer get away with playing this " I didn't know the game". YES, SHE DID! Pat has known since May 2015 what was in front of her, she heard from parents, teachers, Admins, and TEMPLETON MASS AS WELL. She was warned to watch the budget under Miller and instead of listening to US she hired her as a BUDGET MGR as well. She was told NOT to hire her to open a new search but she settled even against recommendations NOT to. She was warned not to let Mike Duprey go or Cathy HH and others if so she would lose school choice. Mike Duprey and others warned Pat what was going on in the school and what did she do? She ignored him, allowed Careers to be destroyed and gave Miller a raving report! Thousands of dollars were given in raises as teachers were being given pink slips, LOOK AT THE BUDGETS! She was warned in 2016 that PVRS would lose over 500,000.00 when the kids from school choice would graduate, again ignored. She was warned no child would choose this school with how it was now being run, she ignored it. Vernon has the students but parents and kids do not want to use it. Which FYI prior to this was what 96% of kids choice. You have ZERO from school choice this year. Millers first year was spent lying to the community by newspapers and was even called out on it. No, Pat, you will not walk away from this - you lied to parents, teachers, taxpayers, and even the IR of Mass. You are unfit to be in this position and YOUNG as well and NO we will not let you. Check out the blog on the school it's all there from the beginning. Suggestion PVRS get Duprey and Cathy HH back it's your only hope to save this school.

 “The majority of us did not have any idea until Mary Jane Handy came out from (the Department of Revenue) and spoke to us (in May). At that point, I became aware,” Shearer said. “I’m not sure if other people on the committee knew or not, but as chair, I did not know.”

 In retrospect, Shearer said, poor communication with former Superintendent Ruth Miller, who also served as the district’s business manager, had a strong hand in creating this situation.

 FOR THE SAKE OF PVRS SHEARER AND THIS COMMITTEE MUST BE REMOVED.

                                                          WE ARE WATCHING


LINK TO NEWS STORY 
http://www.recorder.com/PVRS-deficit-summary-18526926

OH Hell NO!

Pat Shearer, you have balls of steel to actually run for a school committee seat. Do not act like this is NOT your fault the position PVRS is in because it is! Lets review.

When you forced out Dayle Dorion and went on a new Superintendent search instead of doing due diligence on this you chose to just accept Miller because you didn't want to open up another search. YOU were told by your own damn committee not to hire her.

You had the largest turn out of taxpayers and parents show up at Pearl Rhoades in May 2015 telling you to get rid of her. You chose to close your ears to the truth and not listen. You actually had the nerve to give her a raving review when in fact it was all bullshit!

You had Administrators and teachers jumping ship without life jackets, telling you of the abuse they were enduring and AGAIN YOU CHOSE NOT TO LISTEN!

You were warned by Templeton to WATCH YOUR BUDGET ..  again you ignored the warnings and you hired Miller as budget/business mgr! WHAT!

You were shown proof of Miller's track record - abusive- unable to lead - blowing up budgets- nuclear options, asked to leave all her past employment and Miller knew she was NOT getting asked back by Templeton.  Now, what did you do Pat? You allowed peoples careers to be destroyed, you ignored all warnings that this day was coming and supported this nightmare! Your words were we cannot afford to buy her contract out, well as it looks now it would have been cheaper and saved PVRS if you would have done just that.

You knew that the largest class of school choice was leaving in 2017 - You also were aware that after what happened to Mike Duprey and others school choice was no longer an option with Vernon kids or parents. You did NOTHING to prepare for this, instead, you used VY as an excuse... ah, no..it was the corruption of this school and still, you ignored the warnings.

Pat  Shearer and Young are bad for PVRS and should not be voted back in. If you allow this the future destruction of PVRS is on all who voted them in. They are just as guilty as Miller due to they allowed Miller's destruction of our beloved school.

Go over the blog, read the warnings. We foretold this day for over 3 years.


NO TO PAT  SHEARER RE-ELECTION TO SCHOOL COMMITTEE. 

Few people like to see themselves on the front page of the local newspaper. It often means bad news, and that’s what School Committee members of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District have had to endure in recent weeks. The unfolding of the district’s budget woes has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion: You know what’s coming and you know that people will be hurt.
Moreover, there’s a sense of impending doom among parents in Leyden and Warwick, whose small elementary schools might as well have targets painted on the sides of their buildings. The effects of possible school closures are ubiquitous: Homesellers worry that talk of school closings deter families from moving into town; homebuyers worry about the viability and future quality of the school system; and homeowners calculate the impact on property taxes. Fault lines divide neighbors as the escalating price of educating our children is thrown into high relief.
Leyden’s Pearl Rhodes Elementary School and Warwick’s Community School, with 33 and 51 students, respectively, have the highest per-student costs in the district. According to PVRS district Treasurer Tanya Gaylord’s estimates, Warwick and Leyden’s elementary schools respectively cost about $22,750 and $24,600 per student. Warwick Town Coordinator David Young, who is on the School Committee, said in his own calculations, Warwick Community School’s cost per-pupil is closer to $32,000. Statewide, the average per-pupil cost is about $15,500, according to the Department of Education’s expenditure report of September 2017. In Gaylord’s calculations, Bernardston and Northfield’s elementary schools cost about $16,500 per student, and Pioneer Valley Regional School about $17,500.
In an effort to maintain the status quo, there have been calls for the Selectboards of all four towns to hold Proposition 2½ tax cap override votes. The last time a Proposition 2½ override vote was held in Northfield was 2014, when the Pioneer district was threatened with as many as 46 layoffs, or 25 percent of professional and paraprofessional staff, according to then Superintendant Dayle Doiron. The resulting vote was tied. A recount netted four votes in favor, and the override succeeded — hardly a mandate. That same year, fiscally conservative Bernardston, sick of ever-inflating school costs, looked into leaving the Pioneer Valley Regional School District altogether. Leyden and Warwick have the most at stake, but an override vote solely to save the schools is a tough nut for any town, anywhere, to crack.
There are, however, some areas of agreement in the current situation. In the face of Draconian cuts to music, the arts, sports and extracurricular activities at Pioneer, more parents and residents seem to be wrapping their minds around the loss of the two lowest-enrollment elementary schools — Pearl Rhodes School in Leyden and Warwick Community School. The alternative would be a high school hollowed out by cuts to programs, making it less attractive to School Choice or, indeed, any students.

Failure to confront the problem could result in a state oversight board making decisions for the district. As School Committee Chairwoman Patricia Shearer put it at a recent meeting, “If they told us to jump, our only response would be, ‘how high?’”
Finally, per Shearer’s invitation, there is the opportunity to be part of the process by running for a seat on the regional School Committee. There are seats up for re-election in all four towns this fall. To get on the ballot, you have to be a registered voter in your town, pick up a petition form from the district superintendent’s office at Pioneer Valley Regional School, get at least 27 signatures of registered voters in your town, and turn in your petition to your town clerk by 5 p.m., July 24.
Northfield Town Clerk Dan Campbell advises candidates to get extra signatures because those forms are scrutinized by the clerk, whose ruling is in turn validated by two registrars appointed by the town. Signatures that are illegible, or not of registered voters, would be disqualified. Campbell points out that just living in town is not enough — you have to be a registered voter for your petition signature to count.
We second Shearer’s call to run for a School Committee seat. It’s a demanding job, but its members are shaping the future of the district’s schoolchildren. Surely that is worth the commitment.

Seriously?

If your gonna report makes sure that the report is correct.
The main causes of these over expenditures have been inadequate funding for district employees’ health and life insurance, inadequate assistance from the state for transportation costs and declining enrollment due to the closing of Vermont Yankee.

Declining enrollment from school choice has VERY little to do with VY.  What it does have to do with is incompetence. These parents have watched closely since 2015 what has been happening at PVRS, administrators leaving, loss of valuable teachers, police officer in school, loss of programs, unhealthy environment among students, and teachers due to a poorly run school by principal and Superintendent, not to mention and I make this clear an unhealthy School Committee that did nothing to stop it or help the students and teachers. PVRS has been a school choice till 2015. The SC and its choices are the reason, not VY, we have the students to send its just no longer the school of choice due to its rapid decline and like I said unhealthy environment. I would also like to add the majority of students from Vernon ( before you lost your large class in 2017) were driven to school by parents, not the bus.
As for this school lunch program,  how is it possible to lose so much money? You were paid by the state for kids who received FREE lunches, and if you did not pay you did not eat and that's a fact you have left out. Seems someone hands are dipping here. Maybe the Mass Internal Rev should take a look. Oh, that's right they are! This should make every taxpayer stand and pay attention, due to the fact Mass IRS does not normally do this.
Did you also make it clear to taxpayers that even if you closed the school it still will cost them just as much if not more to undo what this SC and Millers destruction has done? No, I am sure you didn't.
Bernardston Selectboard Chairman Stanley Garland I am gonna go with the assumption you never knew what Miller did in Templeton.  Ask her about the Nuclear option she pulled - Ask her about how emergency services from it were on call only- or how the Towns Sports and swimming pool were closed for the summer due to no funds- the list is endless - so if you think for a minute that mattered to her during her destruction think again- Ask her how she had removed a memorial in Templeton for children who died in accidents or sicknesses and how she made it about drugs which were not involved ever! This is what has been running your schools, oh and your SB.
If nothing else scares or worries you this should. - This audit was given to the Internal Revenue Service because they found something.
Other information on the state of the deficit was also provided at last night’s meeting by Mary Jane Handy, director of accounts at the state Department of Revenue. In 2016, the “school lunch deficit” was $210,000. In 2017, there was a shortfall of about $400,000 in various operating expenses, plus about $45,000 more in the lunch deficit, for a total of about $640,000. And for 2018, Handy said, she anticipates another $400,000 in debt — bringing the total amount of missing money to roughly $1,061,000.
Mary Jane Handy -The Bureau reviews audit reports of various Massachusetts local governments submitted by independent CPA firms.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!
The main causes of these over expenditures have been inadequate funding.
The only issue of inadequacies is your SCHOOL COMMITTEE and RUTH MILLER.

Just curious - but when are you gonna be smart enough to follow the money? Go back to the beginning 2015 and start doing traces- pull her bank records ( IRS will ) - go thru the books ( Templeton found a lot of misplaced money when they did ) but for God's sake don't sit here and whine and play the blame game when it doesn't have the answers you seek. For once do your damn jobs.
We are watching you.

NORTHFIELD — With budget cuts looming over the Pioneer Valley Regional School District, residents are becoming more vocal about how the district should begin to address its financial problem.
According to a list of possible cuts prepared by district administrators, the district would save $300,000 by closing Leyden’s Pearl Rhodes Elementary School, and $400,000 by closing Warwick Community School.
Abbi Pratt of Leyden read a letter at Thursday’s school committee meeting, which she said was signed by most parents of Pearl Rhodes students, saying that closing Pearl Rhodes “would cause lasting damage to our town and the school district as a whole.”
Instead of closing the school, the letter said, the School Committee should investigate a tax increase to the four member towns.
Deborah Potee of Northfield similarly advocated asking the towns for more money, whether it would come from reserves or tax increases.

But, said Bernardston Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Dutcher, Bernardston only has $4,800 that would be available for such a request. If the requested amount were any greater than that — as it likely would be, given that the district’s deficit is roughly $1 million — the payment would require an override to Proposition 2½ to allow tax rates to increase by more than 2.5% over the previous year’s. In the past, Dutcher said, Bernardston voters have not approved similar overrides.
“I know the schools are important,” said Bernardston Selectboard Chairman Stanley Garland, “but there are other things that are important, too, and we’ve got to be able to afford them. I think that the closing of a school is something that we really need to look at.”
Bernardston’s tax rates are already the third highest in Franklin County, Garland added.
Of the two schools that could be closed, Leyden’s Pearl Rhodes would be the more likely candidate, said School Committee member Peggy Kaeppel, who is a resident of Leyden.
“We’re just being shortsighted if we don’t think we need to investigate closing at least Pearl Rhodes Elementary School as soon as it can be done,” Kaeppel said. “It’s unrealistic to even think about cutting music or the arts. … That school, it’s time for it to be mothballed, at least for now.”
Yet closing a school is a complicated process, said Fernard Dupere of Dupere Law Offices, the School Committee’s legal counsel.
The process is especially complicated, given that the district agreement guarantees that each town has its own elementary school. But, Dupere said, other districts in similar situations have done it, with varying results.
“The degree of the complication depends on the willingness of all involved to reach a common result,” he said.
“From my standpoint, I don’t believe that’s an appropriate discussion to be having for this coming school year,” said Jeff Wulfson, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “That’s a major decision for a community and a district to make with major implication, both financial and legal. It shouldn’t be rushed.”
Other information on the state of the deficit was also provided at last night’s meeting by Mary Jane Handy, director of accounts at the state Department of Revenue. In 2016, the “school lunch deficit” was $210,000. In 2017, there was a shortfall of about $400,000 in various operating expenses, plus about $45,000 more in the lunch deficit, for a total of about $640,000. And for 2018, Handy said, she anticipates another $400,000 in debt — bringing the total amount of missing money to roughly $1,061,000.
The main causes of these over expenditures have been inadequate funding for district employees’ health and life insurance, inadequate assistance from the state for transportation costs and declining enrollment due to the closing of Vermont Yankee.
Wulfson emphasized that the district would need to be proactive in making adjustments to its budget and that the process would take more than one fiscal year.
“We do not suggest that you wait for us to come in with some magic answer that we do not have,” he said.

Yes!!! PVRS has a new Superintendent!!

Congrats Jonathan Scagel, we looked into your history and are very happy with this choice. You have the Teachers, Students and Taxpayers backing you up. Your commitment and foresight for the love of our school is what PVRS  is so desperately in need of. So much has been lost, great teachers, our beloved Mike Duprey and Cathy HH, Mr. Mullin, ad so many others. Just like our paws that once stood bright when you drove into PVRS and are now gone, so was our spirit. I feel you will put life back into what has been lost and we will once again be the great school we once were in time.

As for you Pat and Young, and the rest of this SC  the destruction you allowed to our schools will not be forgotten. Your failure to not only do your jobs and due diligence on Miller is unforgivable. You were given proof of her abilities and you ignored not only us, but teachers and Administrators. You allowed careers to be destroyed and listened to lies because people spoke out against her. You betrayed our teachers and students and taxpayers. YOU and only you are to blame for this mess we are in. You will get yours at the next elections and it will be heard loud and strong. For that we will be back.

As for you Miller, your destruction ends here. We will not allow you to destroy another school and will speak out every chance we get. Hopefully the State will also see you for what you are and stop you as well. We are strong we will come back stronger than ever. Our job here is done your gone.You cannot leave fast enough.

Again, Jonathan Scagel thank you for taking  this step, it won't be easy you have to deal with a incompetent SC but, just remember we have your back. Now, let the healing begin!!

                                              WE ARE THE PANTHERS






NORTHFIELD — Jonathan Scagel will be the interim superintendent of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District. He starts in July with a one-year contract that can be extended for another year.
Scagel has been a teacher at Pioneer Valley Regional School for a year, and has 24 years of prior experience working in various teaching and administrative positions, he said. He is the youngest of the four candidates interviewed by the School Committee on Tuesday night, and the only one without experience as a superintendent. The other candidates were Bob Clancy, principal at Pearl Rhodes Elementary School in Leyden and Bernardston Elementary School; Robert Gazda, a former superintendent and principal of the Gilbert School, a private school for grades 7-12 in Winstead, Conn. and Suzanne Scallion, a former superintendent for Westfield public schools from 2011 until her retirement in 2016.
“I can see what a great place this school is. I know we’re in a little bit of trouble right now, but I can see the potential,” Scagel said to the School Committee. “I can see the passion. I can hear it from the School Committee members, from the taxpayers. They want something better for this district and I feel that I can get us there. I feel that I have the leadership ability. I’m a strong leader. I’m a creative, effective leader that has a vision for Pioneer. I feel that I can inspire the taxpayers, you (the School Committee), the community members, the parents, the families and most importantly, the students to achieve that vision, because they deserve it.”
The School Committee did not disregard Scagel’s lack of experience as a superintendent, especially as it would relate to the difficult decisions that the interim superintendent will almost definitely have to make in the coming year to cut staff, programs or both. Scagel’s familiarity with the staff of Pioneer Valley Regional School, some committee members said, could be a double-edged sword.
“It’s hard to ask someone to cut a friend’s job,” Chairwoman Pat Shearer warned.

But all committee members were impressed by Scagel’s enthusiasm and his unorthodox ideas, like installing solar panels on the school buildings, working with local and national businesses to sponsor technology purchases and building renovations and hiring a grant writer whose salary would come directly out of the grants he or she obtains for the district.
Just as important as Scagel’s apparent capability, the committee said, is his familiarity with the district and the inner workings of the school.
“We need somebody from within because healing comes from within,” said committee member Jim Bell, who coaches track at Pioneer Valley Regional School.
“I really want the passion and the energy and the youthfulness,” said committee member John Rodgers. “I can take that over experience any day.”
Contact Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261 ext. 261.

Congrats John

Congrats John ... Make PVRs proud. Our new superintendent.

How DARE you David Young

How dare you David Young respond to this woman in this manner. You and the rest of this dead horse board work for US and you answer to us. We voted you in and we and will vote you out.
Do your jobs? You haven't done your jobs in 3 years, you allowed Miller to run rampant and destroy our schools. You allowed teachers careers to be destroyed who were loyal and the best for these kids to be fired because they spoke out against Miller and you! How dare you speak to anyone this way. Ken Mullen is 100 % correct this SC is totally dysfunctional and let us just go over your incompetent email. ( Which I am not so sure you were allowed to write without the rest of the SC involved) But, they will know now.


Teacher Ken Mullen was quoted (Recorder) saying of the School Committee dysfunction, “We need to start exchanging ideas, making connections, coming up with solutions, instead of pointing out problems”. I agree. The School Committee needs to do this. We need to stop taking up valuable meeting time with a continued public comment.WHAT! The public who pay these taxes has every right to speak up and it is your job to listen. We need to deliberate as a body without having ideas opposed by the audience at every turn. We will never do our best four hours into a meeting. Let the committee meet. It is the inaction that comes of heeding every of the public’s admonition not to cut, not to RIF, not to change that got us here.NO, Miller got us here and your inability to listen to the public who warned you of her destruction from day one! Don't you dare put your dysfunctions on us when it was your job to be in control and you haven't been in 3 years! When we heed the public we generate unrealistic paper budgets that can’t obtain. Again WHAT!!!!!! You allowed a new building that cost more than was affordable and than had to be removed costing, even more, unrealistic raises for a first time principal, VP, ASST Superintendent and Superintendent..to name a few and let us not forget a no teacher classroom program.   We under budget expenses and we make rosy revenue assumptions. Doing so we fail our mission. The time for hearings is over. ( YOU CANNOT STOP OPEN MEETINGS AND PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.
My second point is, I think it better that we pick our own poison. From that view I find the message from Chairman Shearer to the committee and many who have written us troubling, “We will only do what the state agencies force the district to do to climb our of the financial hole we are in.” Gads! I bet she meant to assure folk that we are not going to go overboard, we aren’t going to overreact. It sounds too much like what got us here: blind faith, hopeful optimism, denial. We twelve are in this together. Lets work through it, compromise, and get the job done of making and ranking cuts. From there we can seek more funds, track the next year and free up funds we prudently reserved for Unemployment, Health Insurance, Special Needs as we prove we have a doable budget. We can’t risk more losses. Lets be the stewards we were elected to be. WE DID ALLOW YOU TO BE THE STEWARDS YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO BE AND HERE WE ARE. YOUR  INCOMPETENT AND THE FACTS HAVE SPOKEN FOR THEMSELVES.
Kind regards,
David Young



http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/cm1115gov.html

To the members of the PVRSD School Committee,
I write to you as a current parent of a student within the PVRS district as well as a concerned citizen and would like to pose several questions to the committee, as well as express my deep concern as it pertains to the upcoming interview and selection process regarding the position of Superintendent.
I ask the committee as a whole, what the process entails for interviewing candidates? Is there a standardized interview/selection committee formed when interviewing each candidate and is the said committee using standardized interview questions, so as there is equality and the ability for appropriate comparison of each candidate. Also, is there a rubric to determine your assessment of the candidates during the interview/selection process?
As a citizen/parent that is employed full time, I ask your reasoning for holding the upcoming Superintendent interviews, that are scheduled to begin at 3:45pm, when this is a time when the majority of the community cannot attend this meeting and am concerned that this time was intentionally chosen in order to reduce the amount of citizens able to observe the interviews and minimize the transparency between the committee and citizens during the course of the selection process.
Regarding the amount of time allotted for the interviews, I am interested in knowing why all but one candidate would be provided thirty minutes for an interview, while one candidate is being provided 45 minutes, as it is outlined on the posted meeting agenda.
Lastly, I would like to express my deep concern regarding the fact that this is not the first attempt on the committee’s part to interview selected candidates, and would like to stress the importance of selecting a candidate who is true to the students and community of PVRSD, who is competent and is able to think “outside of the box” to help improve the current state of the district and feel that all of the candidates, EXCEPT for Jon Scagel, would not only create additional stress on the current situation at PVRSD, but have a public history of creating undue stress, executed decisions with negative financial implications, and have lacked complete transparency, while serving other educational districts or in varying educational roles. I respectfully ask that each of you understand the much of the community’s preferred candidate, being Jon Scagel, and take into consideration that as our elected officials you have the ability to create tremendous positive change while collaborating with your community to ensure that moving forward, our students can be educated without compromising the future quality of their education.
Thank you in advance for your time and attention.
Respectfully,
Kristen M. Gonzalez
Reply:
Teacher Ken Mullen was quoted (Recorder) saying of the School Committee dysfunction, “We need to start exchanging ideas, making connections, coming up with solutions, instead of pointing out problems”. I agree. The School Committee needs to do this. We need to stop taking up valuable meeting time with continued public comment. We need to deliberate as a body without having ideas opposed by the audience at every turn. We will never do our best four hours into a meeting. Let the committee meet. It is the inaction that comes of heeding every of the public’s admonition not to cut, not to RIF, not to change that got us here. When we heed the public we generate unrealistic paper budgets that can’t obtain. We underbudget expenses and we make rosy revenue assumptions. Doing so we fail our mission. The time for hearings is over.
My second point is, I think it better that we pick our own poison. From that view I find the message from Chairman Shearer to the committee and many who have written us troubling, “We will only do what the state agencies force the district to do to climb our of the financial hole we are in.” Gads! I bet she meant to assure folk that we are not going to go overboard, we aren’t going to overreact. It sounds too much like what got us here: blind faith, hopeful optimism, denial. We twelve are in this together. Lets work through it, compromise, and get the job done of making and ranking cuts. From there we can seek more funds, track the next year and free up funds we prudently reserved for Unemployment, Health Insurance, Special Needs as we prove we have a doable budget. We can’t risk more losses. Lets be the stewards we were elected to be.
Kind regards,
David Young

                                            WE ARE THE PANTHERS AND WE FIGHT