School Committee Relents...Agrees to Return $500k to the Taxpayers

HALLELUJAH!

I frankly do not know what else to say.

Somebody lend me a defibrillator.

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District School Committee tonight (June 23rd) astonishingly RE-VOTED and re-certified the fiscal 2012 budget to include the so-called $500k "give back" to the towns for last year's over-funded school budget (approximately $1 million).

There is no further need to discuss the controversy, anger and angst that has now been extinguished by this momentous decision. All that is left is to offer kudos and congratulations to the School Committee for having stepped up at the last minute to end the issue in a right, fair and just manner and also to those community leaders and citizens that helped play a major role in this positive outcome.  You know who you are.

This also means that Hamilton will not need to hold the Special Town Meeting that had been scheduled for next Monday, which is likewise a good thing for our community.

THANK YOU again, School Committee, for doing the right thing.  I would agree with Hamilton Selectman Jeff Hubbard who said:

"I think this is a night where we can turn the page."

Now...

...about of those fiscal recommendations from the Operational Audit?

(Hey... you didn't think we'd let you off the hook that easily did you?)

This Is the Truth...These Are The Facts.

To borrow a quote from my friend Barbara Anderson...

"There are two kinds of people, from various perspectives, reading this column: 1. People who want to know the truth; and 2. People who would rather not know until it's too late."

This week's blog article explores the belief that the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee is a liability to our towns, our residents AND our schools. Their budgeting ineptitude, autonomy and arrogance for at least the last 10 years has resulted in a property tax rate that is one of the highest on the North Shore and a school district reputation that is in steep decline.

Follow along for a minute to see how the School Committee's many poor decisions have resulted in the unfortunate position we now find ourselves in.  Here are the facts:

School override after school override (aka: "overandoverrides"). Since 2001 the school district has demanded nine Proposition 2.5 overrides. Eight have been granted. The cumulative cost to the taxpayers for those eight overrides = $43,970,000.  "Budgeting by Override" never was a sound accounting process and was most certainly unsustainable.

Loss of property values. The overrides have resulted in Hamilton and Wenham having two of the highest property tax rates on the North Shore. This means that many home buyers are circumventing Hamilton and Wenham in favor or surrounding communities, many with equally good schools. The end result is a significant loss of value in your home and your equity.

Highest per pupil cost.  Two independent reports have concluded that residents in Hamilton and Wenham pay about $2,000 more per pupil in our school district than in peer school districts.

Blue Ribbon Report on school district costs. The Blue Ribbon report, and a subsequent update to the report, indicated that our school district costs residents $2 - $4 million more per year than comparable school districts in Massachusetts.

School Superintendent departure. In a move some have called "fleeing from a sinking ship", former School Superintendent Marinel McGrath resigned and took a position in Andover, MA. Her assistant superintendent and business manager, Paul Sysmanski, also departed... moving first to Billerica and then over to Andover to join with McGrath again.

New School Superintendent. In a rush to replace McGrath, despite calls to slow down and seek an interim superintendent, the School Committee unanimously approved the hiring of Dr. Raleigh Buchanan and granted him a three-year contract at a significantly higher salary than that of his previous position as Superintendent in Haverhill.  Residents were told that we needed to offer a high salary in order to attract the best candidates.

School Operational Audit. Hamilton and Wenham voters overwhelmingly supported funding an Operational Audit of the School District to determine what was wrong and where efficiencies could be found. The audit report suggests that savings of up to $15 million over 5 years are possible and offers 125 financial recommendations. The School Committee has all but ignored the cost-saving recommendations and has focused solely on implementing the cost-enhancing recommendations. The School Committee has resolutely claimed the audit is "flawed"...EXCEPT when it supports their agenda of additional spending.

2012 School Budget Season. The School committee's WORKING FINANCE GROUP, after determination that the 2011 district budget was OVER-FUNDED by more than $1 million, recommended a so-called "give back" to the towns of $350k.

The School Committee refusal. The School Committee ignored their own WORKING FINANCE COMMITTEE'S recommendation and voted to give nothing back to the towns... Nothing.  Zip.  How's that for "compromise"?

The School Committee violates the Open Meeting Law. The School Committee was forced to admit they violated the State's Open Meeting Law on numerous occasions during the budget season, despite, as their attorney stated, all members having been trained in procedures and processes of the law.

Towns boards seek return of unspent funds. Town officials (ALL members of both Boards of Selectmen and Finance and Advisory Committees of BOTH towns) requested the School District return $500k in unspent taxpayer funds (half).  They cited additional approved state funding of $120k and a Latin teacher salary ($77k) with no Latin teacher. Recognizing that the district was OVER-FUNDED by more than $1 million in 2011, the Selectmen and FinCom members felt that requesting only the return of $500k represented an extremely fair compromise proposal.

The School Committee's refuses. Again...No willingness whatsoever to compromise.

School budget rejected by voters. Voters at the Hamilton Annual Town Meeting approved the motion to give back $500k to the taxpayers and rejected the School Committee's budget, requiring the School Committee to certify a new budget and resubmit it for consideration.

School Superintendent reviews delayed. For various reasons, the yearly reviews of the Superintendent of Schools were delayed repeatedly until AFTER both Town Meetings were over.  Once they were released, it became abundantly clear that the School Committee had been on a collision course with Dr. Buchanan.

Another School Superintendent departs. Less than one year into his three year contract Dr. Buchanan abruptly resigned claiming "irreconcilable differences" with the School Committee, the result of scathing reviews by most members of that committee...the same committee that unanimously and emotionally approved his hiring one year ago. (Cost to the district to buy out his contract: $115,000.00)

Middle/High School Principal moves on. Matt Fox accepts a job as Middle School Principal in Marblehead.

Another School Principal looks to move on.  Winthrop School principal Carrie Vaich sought a new position and was named a finalist in Newburyport and at the Rollinsford Grade School in NH.  After Newburyport chose the other candidate, she chose to remain in Hamilton.

School Committee incumbents are voted out of office. All three open positions on the School Committee are won by new candidates...sending a clear message, one would think.

A School District in trouble.  We now have no Middle School principal, no High School principal and no full time Superintendent (Peter Gray, thankfully, is serving as acting superintendent...for the time being.)

School Budget "re-certification". As a result of the Hamilton Town Meeting vote, the School Committee certified a new budget, this time with only a $300k "give back" instead of the $500k approved by the voters and recommended by town officials.  The SC has referred to this amount as a "compromise proposal"...suggesting that the STARTING POINT was $500k, instead of $1 million, which is the ACTUAL OVER-FUNDED AMOUNT.  This means Hamilton will have to hold a Special Town Meeting later this month and incur the additional COSTS, INCONVENIENCE and ANGER of the residents.

This last decision was perhaps the most unfortunate and misguided act yet by the HWRSD School Committee. A significant opportunity was lost by the blindness of all but two committee members (newly elected members, I would point out).  Had they not been so blind, they surely would have understood that most of the divisiveness, the mistrust, and the angst of the residents of Hamilton and Wenham could have been eliminated had they simply agreed to what the majority of COMBINED VOTERS OF BOTH TOWNS expressed at the two May Town Meetings: Give us back just HALF of our unspent tax funds.  Half...that's all we're asking for.

The truth... there it is.  The facts...there they are.

As Barbara's quote at the beginning of this article stated, it may be too late for those of you who do not want to know the truth.

But I sincerely hope it's not.

Please plan to attend the Special Town Meeting on June 27th at the Winthrop School at 7:00 PM and let your voices, and your votes, be heard again. 

Vote NO to the proposed school budget at the Special Town Meeting.

Thank you.

4 Reasons Why The School Committee's "Compromise Solution" is NOT

I thought about titling this blog: "Hello?...Wake Up!"  I may still.  Or perhaps I'll just insert the wake up notices wherever I feel they are appropriate.

But I digress...the main issue of this blog concerns the results of the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee's (SC) meeting of June 9.  It was at that meeting that the SC voted to "re-certify" the school district budget as a result of voter opposition to their original budget at the Hamilton Annual Town Meeting in May.

You may recall that the 2011 school district budget was OVER-FUNDED by more than $1 million and as a result, by unanimous consent of both Hamilton and Wenham's Boards of Selectmen and Finance Committees, the 2012 school budget approved at the Hamilton Town Meeting required a "give back" (or reduction from the towns) of $500k from the district, or just half of the unspent funds.  Sounds like a fair and reasonable compromise, right?

Unfortunately, the School Committee has now (once again) chosen to defy our town officials and the taxpayers by choosing to certify a new budget with only a $300k give back.

They are calling it a "compromise solution".  Here are just 4 things to consider regarding the SC's so-called "compromise solution":

1.  This spring, the SC's Working Finance Group voted to give back $350k to the taxpayers for OVER-FUNDING the 2011 school budget.  The lone dissenting vote on that committee came from SC member Richard Boroff who was subsequently trounced at the polls in a re-election bid.  (Hello?...Wake up!)  The Finance Working Group's recommendation was ignored by the full School Committee who chose instead to keep the $350k...without any kind of compromise.

2.  Both Hamilton and Wenham's Boards of Selectmen and Finance Committees originally voted to accept the $350k figure recommended by the Finance Working Group until it was discovered that the state would be providing an additional $120,000 in funding AND it was discovered that the 2012 school budget included, among other things, a salary for a non-existent Latin teacher (approximately $77,000).  At that point, all the same town officials then voted to increase the amount of the give back to $500k, again unanimously.  (Hello?...Wake Up!)

3.  The School Committee had the opportunity to end this entire issue had they agreed to give back half of the taxpayers' unspent funds.  If they had agreed to the $500k, we would be done.  It would be over.  No more Special Town Meetings.  No more arguments and fighting over what rightfully BELONGS to the taxpayers.  But instead, the SC has once again arrogantly chosen to go to battle and burden the residents of our towns with more expense, inconvenience and angst.  (Hello?...Wake Up!)

4.  Lastly, $300k is simply NOT a "compromise solution".  The SC may like the sound of that, but it's a misnomer.  You see, when it was shown that the school district had been OVER-FUNDED by $1 million in fiscal year 2011 and the Towns asked for just half of that amount to be returned...THAT was a compromise solution.

The $300k figure agreed to by the SC this week "compromises" the actual compromise solution, which is simply to give back half of what was overcharged to the taxpayers.  (Hello?...Wake Up!)

$500k is the compromise solution.  Even a third grade math student could figure that one out.

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UPDATE: 6/14/11: The following is an excerpt from a white paper provided by the Hamilton Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee days before Hamilton's Annual Town Meeting in May.  It seems appropriate to revisit the statement as we head into another Town Meeting, faced with the same issue:

"At the risk of oversimplifying, the entire question of which approach to support could be boiled down to one question: do voters/taxpayers want to put money into the District's E&D fund for either potential problems in FY12 or for expenses in FY13, or do voters/taxpayers want to keep the money in their own pockets and fund the District as needed based on the merits of those needs as they arise?  The FinComs and BoS of both towns believe that voters/taxpayers would prefer the latter."

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I want to personally offer thanks and kudos to SC vice-chairman Roger Kubel and new SC member Bill Dery for eloquently expressing what I have attempted to communicate above and for trying to make the other members of the SC understand what the real, and fair, compromise solution is.  It appears however that the remaining incumbent members learned little from the Hamilton Town Meeting's voter's wishes regarding the original budget OR the election results on their own board.  (Hello?...Wake Up!)