The EASD ad hoc budget committee meet last night to form 5 sub-committees to start addressing the school district budget woes.
Right now, the EASD is projected to face a $6.14M deficit next year, growing to $9.30M by the year 2012. I am glad the EASD school board is willing to include the parents in making these tough budget choices.
My only disappointment with the committee structure is the policy to "ban" school board members and school board candidates (Jennifer Holtzberger, Sarah Bilotti, and Chris Possessky) from the committee meetings(read the Express-Times coverage).
I strongly believe all taxpayers should be allowed to attend the meetings, whether they are a parent, teacher, school board member, or candidate. The underlying purpose of the budget committee is to create a new layer of transparency between the school board and the public. Excluding the school board members or these fine candidates from the conversation is a mistake.
If the school administration is worried about the board members unduly influencing our decisions, then have the parents chair the overall committee and all the sub-committees. This will allow the school board members to hear the actual debate about critical budget issues, without influencing the parents decisions. Of course, this assumes the parents can actually be influenced by a single board member.
Lets practice open government. Our kids deserve it!
4 comments:
Nicely Stated, David.
-Sarah Bilotti
I find it distressing that someone with your apparent knowledge of governmental affairs would be against seperation of power and authority. If those who are in the position of administering such budgets are allowed to have ANY involvement in the creation of said budgets, that would open the door to all sorts of manipulations to ensure that anything that such a board member would support, would be funded, regardless if in the best interests of the school overall. And by allowing ANY board member, or candiate for the board for that matter to have ANY input, even if commentary only, would be tantamount to attempted manipulation, and far exceeds any fine line between delegation of authority and corruption. People in power can, and do manipulate meetings, committees, and issues all the time, and preventing those who administer the budgets from creating the same budgets is a GREAT protection from certain individuals calling ALL the shots.
For you to identify this as stifling open government is distressing and scary, as you, yourself are currently running for a public office. Transparency in government is a great thing. Allowing for easy flow of information to any interested party is great. But allowing ANYONE to have a part in something like budgeting, inclusive of those with a vested interest such as the board members lacks independence.
I sincerely hope you recant your support for allowing current or potential board members from attending such budgetary meetings, as your position on this matter is an inherently dangerous concept.
to Anonymous comment2 - could identify yourself? If not willing to by name but at very least by affiliation or relationship to EASD?
I am having a difficult time following your thoughts, perhaps knowing where your point of view is coming from would help me understand why our elected officials who represent us but actual don't really craft the budget should not be part of the process. If anything I feel some administration /staff has personal agendas that are unhealthy for EASD - and THEY should be excluded!
Seems in the past the schoolboard really gets involved too late and not at ground level. They only see fairly general presentations or info that is thrown at them in mass - not the examining of the nitty gritty. I hope the Ad Hoc group really looks at all the details and makes changes from the past - in all areas. David - I agree with you. I just don't get the other comment - so i hope he/she replies here to help us understand.
submitted from a EASD taxpayer and parent/concerned involved citizen.
While up until now I have not identified myself within comments, as I am not running for, nor have I ever held any elected position within a school board, or any elected executive position anywhere.
However, while I am a parent of a current student within the EASD, I am not an educator, current or past board member, nor am I related to any current, past or candidates for any positions.
My concerns are based on the necessity for separation of responsibilities for the preservation of responsibility and accountability. If those responsible for administering functions created by, or limited by such budgets are allowed to have ANY hand in the creation of such budgets, that is direct and irrefutable manipulation of the budgets. For that reason alone, I do not believe ANY school board member even attending any budgeting meetings is appropriate, ESPECIALLY since they involve dealing with impending budget deficits that will NEED to be dealt with, perhaps with budget cuts which would definitively be a difficult thing to deal with as a board member.
My reason also for commenting on the original post, is that Mr. Billings is currently a candidate for an elected position in Forks Township. He has also chosen to put forward some of his ideas publicly via this forum, which I do not agree with, and some of which I believe have been rather ambiguous and contradictory to come of his own statements and viewpoints.
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