About a month ago I reported here that the grassroots tax group Enough Is Enough (EiE) was circulating a Citizen's Petition requesting an Operational Audit of the Hamilton/Wenham Regional School District (HWRSD). Within three weeks of that announcement the group had the required number of signatures to submit their request as an article for the Town Meeting warrants in both Hamilton and Wenham.In fact, the total number of voter signatures required was 570 and the group gathered over 800...in just three weeks!
That's a testament not only to those that collected so many signatures in so little time, but also to the overwhelming support that this initiative has in both towns.
And why wouldn't it have that kind of support?
You will recall that two weeks after EiE began collecting signatures, the Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) reported an update of data and information that spotlighted an alarming disparity between what we pay to the HWRSD and what similar/comparable school districts are costing. A Salem News article stated that our school district spends nearly $3.5 million dollars more than the comparable districts...without the benefit of higher educational test scoring from our students.
That knowledge is cause for grave concern and clearly supports and justifies the need for the operational audit. EiE has sought support for this study for more than a year and has tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to obtain information from the school department in order to find out where and how funding is being directed and spent in our school district. The school department's steadfast reluctance to provide the requested information left EiE no other choice than to seek the requested amendment to the Regional School District Agreement requiring an operational audit.
Fortunately, there has never been a more opportune time to perform this kind of audit. Changes within the school administration could likely result in savings to fund such an audit. School districts contacted by EiE that performed operational audits have positive testimonials about recommendations that were provided by the auditors and spoke of savings of millions of dollars...many times the original cost of their audits. Savings have been found in areas never considered by the school committees and new "best practice" systems and processes have been implemented that have been proven highly effective.
This is an initiative that should be welcomed and embraced by all. It is not punishment. It is an acknowledgement that professional, trained, experienced, outside, third party experts are better able discern solutions to our problems than those that, despite their best intentions, have caused the cost of our kids' education to soar beyond reason...without the benefit of enhanced educational excellence.
In other words, higher costs have NOT been shown to equal better education.
The amendment request for the operational audit will be voted upon at each individual Town Meeting. Wenham's meeting is on Saturday, May 1st, and Hamilton's is the following Saturday, May 8th. Be sure to attend and vote YES.
This amendment gives the residents real authority and stronger accountability.
It's about time for that.
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