The Norwich Bull has an extensive article on the pros and cons of having a Resident State Trooper.
After reading the front page article of the “Pillager� on Friday regarding the most recent negotiating session between the BOE and the Academy BOT, I couldn’t help but think back to my previous posts on this subject in the Cafe. That is, that the BOT has been negotiating in bad faith for months now with respect to a new contract with the BOE. It is crystal clear to me now that the BOT has no intention of negotiating a contract anytime soon with this BOE as it is presently constituted. They seem to be willing to stall, knowing that the court of public opinion is largely in their corner (for God knows whatever reason!) It is now clear that they are banking on the fact that no new contract between now and the November election continues to fuel the bad will multi media campaign that they have been relentlessly perpetrating against the BOE over the past few years, all with an eye towards populating a new BOE with one that is more willing to capitulate to their will.
Why else would they decide after months of negotiating to pull out a proposal at the 11th hour for a “trial� three year period where capital expenditures will be allowed to grow by as much as 15% per year when the largest capex investment has never exceeded 13%, and that the increase over the past five years or so has approximated no more than 6%? Also, bear in mind that these percentages are calculated against an ever growing allocation, so that the real dollars continue to soar.
I had a conversation with a BOE Negotiating Committee member who was quite optimistic going into last week’s negotiations that a deal was “imminent� based upon the progress that had been made in the past few sessions. I can see why Jeri Musumeci had “some trepidation about bringing this proposal forward� as she was quoted in the Pillager, because even she knows deep down that the Academy and the BOT are embarassing themselves with this shameful campaign of bullying the BOE into agreeing to a contract that is clearly at the expense of the K-8 system. I for one applaud the BOE for its tireless efforts to search through every legal nook and cranny and under every rock (especially those that the CPS crowd seem to slither under), to find an equitable solution to our current educational funding crisis. The sooner that “ex-officio� Margie (and it is my fervent wish that she becomes an ex-everything come November), the Academy, the BOF, Lisa Rapose and the rest of the anti-BOE pack of wolves come to the realization that the BOE’s primary responsibility is to the State first and the Town of Woodstock second, then the better off we will all be here in the long run in The Land That Time Forgot.
Stranded in the Land that Time Forgot
Stranded, I think that the BOE has an obligation to make sure the town meets state educational mandates, otherwise they need to be sensitive to local needs or risk not getting re-elected. Keep in mind that most people do not want an educational budget that merely reflects state requirements. If that were the case I would suspect that the educational budget would be even slimmer. So the spending that goes beyond what is mandated must be in line with the electorate needs not what the state may soon require (putting the state before the electorate). For instance, an $11,000 salary was budgeted for an English educational tutor which by state mandates, we did not need at this point. Carol Andrezcyk (sorry for the mispelling) made the point that they were being “proactive”. She claimed that we are very near the point of being mandated to have one anyhows. OK, we all bought it. Well, come to find out, Carol was misinformed and we are no where near the state mandate. The money could have been spent on new textbooks instead! This is the type of thing that raises eyebrows, especially when using the term “state mandate” lightly and jump to meet them without looking deeply into the language. I think that your statement is unfair and I do not believe we will all be “better off” by putting the state first and I will not vote for anyone that remotely makes the claim or insinuation that they work for the state before they work for the people. ….. Your turn Taxpayer Too….and remember, no taking statements out of context my Calvinist friend….
Taxpayer,
You misunderstand the obligations of the Board of Education. The BOE has repeatedly stated that its obligation is as a dual agent: agents of the state and agents of the municipality. Those roles are not mutually exclusive. To the contrary, the BOE is required to attend to the education obligations imposed by the law of the state and the town. But even you have acknowledged that municipal officials must fulfill state mandates, whether funded or not. Unless you are dense, surely you understand that local law is always subservient to state law. I think that was the point that Stranded was making here. He correctly states, and you are included in the group, that there are many who could care less if the BOE takes whatever funding is required to meet all its educational state mandates (preK to 12) from the K-8 budget alone. Keep your hands of the Government budget’s 27% of the Prop 46 limit (including funds that allow for its elected officials to get pay increases running year to year from 13% to 25%) and keep you hands off of the Academy single no-bid contract (or no contract) funding (check out Jeri Musumeci’s statement in Friday’s 8/3 Villager) and make due with what you have even if it must be used to acquire capital items like buses in a single year to satisfy Prop 46 requirements (as directed upon the BOE by BOF … ludicrous!). So what that there are at least seven languages spoken as primary languages by students who attend Woodstock Public Schools. Most teacher should be able to communicate with no difficulty whatsover with a child who only speaks Turkish when entering grade school. “Hey, teach, just pick up a book-on-tape at the local library and that will make due.” No matter if that same child will not receive one iota of accomodation under No Child Left Behind laws, as the state has imposed that federal unfunded mandate. Only you would deny that child a tutor to learn the English language sufficiently to keep up with other English speaking students. Perhaps we would save more money if we just budget for some barbed-wire fencing and kept the non-English speaking degenerates out of our public school buildings. Might there be a slim chance that there is any English As A Second Language tutoring going on up at Woodstock Academy? (oops, we’re not supposed to go there, I know). And before you come back with the “poor pitiful Taxpayer, you went over the top again on me”, let me say that you are the master of taking things out of context. The primary theme of Stranded’s post here was the bad faith negotiating tactics of the Academy Trustees, but you ran away with a side attack on the ELL Tutor in the BOE budget. (Allow me to pre-empt you and say “Hey Cheese, chill out will you!”) Now there, I heard it and now I can ignore it.
So, why don’t you feast your “local considerations only” eyes upon this website:
http://www.opm.state.ct.us/igp/acir/annualmandate.htm
and see if you can find any state mandates that the local government, BOE and BOS could wiggle around. But, until you figure out how, why don’t you offer something realistic to deal with the obvious problem (check out the Breen Problem Statement if you haven’t figured it out yet). And please save the “let’s take a bus to our state legislature and lobby for change in Hartford” speech … it’s very old and very naive.
Taxpayer, you mention “$11,000.00″ intended for an English educational tutor that we didn’t need after all. I understand the need for accountability. I wish someone would justify a Recreation Director who heads a committee of one other person, due to (possibly) lack of interest or just lack of purpose (who knows). This “recreation” is a line item worth $14,000.00 in the Government budget (has been for almost three years now) What does it do? Is this scuttle with NECONN an attempt to finally make it look as if “Recreation” actually DOES something with that money? There are lots of nooks and crannies in our Government budget that all add up to one big fat place holding bunch of what-is-all -this- money-doing. The Selectmen should be under the microscope for not looking at and cleaning up THEIR budget. Their budget process should be more than just sitting in state and saying yes or no to groups who come with their hand out in the name of town service year after year. Shame on Ms. Wholean for her narrow, personal Academy agenda!
Our K-8 school system is in trouble and the Bennet/salt shed situation needs to be settled. I will vote for the candidate who will somehow, try and get more money for our K-8 school system and who will get actual quotes on how much it would take to fix the salt shed and help out the Bennet’s.
I’d offer you some “whine” with your “cheese”, but I see you have already overindulged as evidenced by your drunken frenzy of accusations. And if there is anything I hate more than a mean drunk, its a mean drunk wacky partisan.
In the first sentence you claim that I misunderstand the obligations of the BOE. In your 5th sentence you admit that I have acknowledged that the BOE has an obligation to meet state mandates. Which is it?
In your 8th sentence, you claim that Stranded stated that “there are many who could care less if the BOE takes whatever funding is required to meet all educational state mandates (pre-k-12) from the K-8 budget alone.” What? Did we read the same commentary? Where was that? And what does that mean.? As far as I know, there is one Woodstock educational budget that funds pre-k – 12. The k-8 budget does not fund 9-12. Then you make the accusation that I am one of those “many” who support this. What would lead you to make such an accusation? Actually, I am quite interested in what exactly are the State mandates in regards to education and I believe that Mr. Loftus’s 22 questions must be answered (two in particular):
Are tuition payments to Woodstock Academy exempt from the restrictions of Prop 46?
Is WA tuition a “state mandate” under state law and Prop 46?
And then you have the audacity to suggest that we keep our “hands off the government budget and keep your hands off the Academy’s single no-bid contract”. I’m not so sure I follow you. I think too much “whine” has gone to your head. There is some obvious overspending in the town budget which has been well documented at this website and as far as the Academy no-bid contract well, I am an advocate for bidding, but trust that the BOT are no fools in negotiating contracts.
Lastly, regarding the ELL. It is my understanding that the state mandates an ELL when there are 17 students SPEAKING THE SAME NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE, NOT 17 kids who speak non-english of varying languages, which is the situation we have at WPS. So is the ELL multi-lingual? I am thrilled that there are immigrants coming to this country who want an education, but that does not obligate the taxpayers and the teachers to pay for or learn a foreign language to meet those immigrants needs. If the non-english speaking family wants their child to attend an english speaking school, then, unless the number of students who speak that language meets the state mandate for an ELL, I think that the parents of those children need to pay for their own ELL. The burden of guilt should not fall on the taxpayer, but rather, onto the parents who are denying their child this priveledge if they choose to send
him/her to an english speaking school without providing an ELL. I am not denying the child anything, the parents are if they choose to forego an ELL. You are a wacky left wing nut to suggest otherwise. And to insinuate that I would like a barbed wire fence to keep the non-english out is simply further proof of your blindness and ignorance. Besides, my point regarding the ELL was not to spark a debate over whether or not the role of an ELL is necessary, but rather to make note that we should be careful on what we consider state mandates. Instead you made it into a personal diatribe against me filled with accusation, insinuation, and nasty pre-emptive arguments. But hey, I forgive you. We are all in this together and if hateful angry language allows you to burn off some steam, I can totally relate. I think everyone is getting a little frustrated…including the legal mediator for the WA-WPS negotiations! Hope you don’t have a hangover though (in my opinion, its never worth it). As far as the paranoia, take my advice, go on medication.
See Through,
I totally agree with you up until your very last sentence which doesn’t derive logically from the rest of your statement. Mrs. Wholean’s views may not be in line with yours, but for many, they are, and it seems as though she would not have stuck her neck out unless she felt that there was some sort of impropriety. Ms. Wholean does not strike me as an political animal and in fact, if you have ever met her, she is quite an unassuming person. Now, many here will tell you otherwise and it is not for me to convince you of the contrary…that is up to you to decide and it appears that you have already done so. Like the War in Iraq, we may not know if Ms. Wholean is doing the right thing until the whole shim-sham plays out. We can guess, we can take sides, we can debate the ethics, but the bottom line is, most of us do not know the whole truth, but many think they do. I for one am interested in the FOIA information that is being sought by Ms. Wholean. This does not make me an evil anti-education fascist, only a concerned citizen hoping to find out the truth and a believer that if there is nothing to hide then there is nothing to fear. This is also why I support President Bush’s wire tapping legislation, that coincidentally, the Democrats oppose. Hmmm.
The Bennett well has been drilled. Almost 1000′ deep for an output volume of 100 gallons per minute. The salt shed is next and if it is planned properly (read funded) it can be done to specification and in place prior to the rebuilding of the Highway Facility. People need to understand this and support it.
Meghan, what do you want “support” for? I will help the Bennet’s and be in favor of a new salt shed providing I know the cost. I will be in ill-humor if the Selectmen attempt to tack on/piggy-back other “needed” items to the tune of a nice big bond package like the last time.
Stay tuned for the Highway Facility Study Committee Report. They are nearing a final decision on design and desires. It is hoped that the community will see its way clear to support a project that will provide servces for the next 25 – 30 years. If all we do is a simple gloss over of the existing site and structure we can’t expect to keep pace with the unforseen yet inevetible growth we are facing.
The Town web site should have a listing of the committee meeting dates but if it doesn’t just call the Town Clerks office.
There will be meetings on the final plan and of course another referendum to follow.
Get involved that would be a great start on supporting our future. This is about more than the Bennett problem. Lets not get caught in the old 20/20 hide sight, we should have done it then, situation.
Meghan,
I have heard from one of the CPSer’s that we should outsource the Highway services. What are your thoughts on this? And what are the projected costs of this monumental project?
A Taxpayer,
I can only speak for the 3 or 4 members of the BOE that I personally know, but I think I wouldn’t be too far off base to say that the members of the BOE as a whole don’t give two craps about being reelected….they are simply working to do the right thing for all of the kids in Woodstock. And if that means they spend money to seek a legal opinion to circumvent 46, or to find a way to increase the K-8 share of the pie from the arbitrary percentage allocation that the current BOF operates from, then so be it as far as I’m concerned. They do this willingly even if that means that their position puts them at odds with the status quo, because they feel that is their mandate…to the kids. Nothing more, nothing less. Certainly not in the interest in being elected again. Besides, who in their right mind would want to run again knowing how they will be personally attacked from pillar to post all over Town from the various special interest groups? We should be thankful that we even have people who are willing to take on this thankless task. I know that I personally would have told the Town to shove it a long time ago, but I am thankful to those brave Don Quixotes on the BOE who continue to soldier on. Perhaps that’s the problem here…the town simply doesn’t know how to react to a Board that is independent minded and operates without a hidden agenda except for what is in the best interests of its true constituents….the ones that are too young to vote…the kids.
Isn’t it interesting that in order for the townspeople to vote to pay for the remediation of the salt shed, we expect exact dollar figures, detailed descriptions of what is going to be done and by whom… and then without blinking an eye, we will (generally) turn around, claim all manner of malfeasance and accuse duplicitious motivations of our Board of Education because they won’t hand over a BLANK CHECK to the Academy. How can we take ourselves seriously?
The striking dichotomy between their glorification of the Academy and their viscious, litigious attacks on on the K-8 school system by the likes of Wetzel, Shultz, Wholean, Rapose, the Powers, the Spaudlings, Valentine, Rosendahl’s and others, all agents of the Academy, raises the possibility in my mind that the Academy has designs on taking over the K-8 system and incorporating all or part of it into their non-profit corporation. If these people take over the BOE, the BOE would then become just a rubber stamp for the Academy. This has already happened in the Selectman’s office with Ms. Wholean from the time she took office. What would our education costs be if the BOE was lost to these Academy zombies? How would the quality of education slip? Maybe this is the way the Academy hopes to breed better football players.
Stranded, Point well made, but it is naive to think that simply desiring to do the right thing for our children can exist as a legitimate platform in a world filled with diverse opinions of what is right, what is affordable, or what is within the realm of possibity. To successfully actualize one’s goals, local politics must be acknowledged and a strategy to communicate with one’s constituency in a transparent manner are essential. Gaining support from the electorate and seeking re-election are necessary to developing continuity and essential if one wants to see the process through… or else risk losing all gains to those that have a different view on “what’s best for the children”. So although your statements appeal to the emotions and your grand apotheosis of our BOE members quite remarkable, it is shortsighted and no one should be held unaccountable simply because of their virtuous motives. The exhorbitant fire protection budget is never questioned because of these same tactics. Emotion must be taken out of the argument otherwise I find it a highly manipulative conversation that dead ends any progress.
Further, no where in my prior comment did I deny that the BOE had good intentions, faced difficult challenges in the face of much opposition, or should not be commended for their volunteerism beyond the call of duty. So please, I’m tiring of this straw man strategy.
Now Henry is a guy I truly respect. Straightforword, well articulated, pointed but not angry, and cuts right to the heart. Ouch.
A Tax,
Point taken as well…and I couldn’t agree with you more about the Fire Dept. budget. Don’t get me started there. However, Big Cheese’s comments are right on point with respect to the ELL Tutor….Carol A’s point in attempting to be proactive was to hire a tutor for those children (and I understand it is more than 14 in total systemwide) in anticipation of the testing that they will have to undergo with respect to NCLB. So you may in turn discard that straw man yourself with respect to the BOE budget and try to find another bone to gnaw on.
Bette: I have heard a Mr. P.S. of CPS fame talking around town about out-sourcing such things as buses as well as highway services. He has, as usual , done no “cost analysis” and is just speculating. And while I have not done a cost analysis either, I do know the following: that other (much bigger) towns in CT do out-sourcing, but they must get involved with contracts. Contracts with these companies mean, that while they don’t need expertise to maintain a garage or their own fleet so to speak, they still need to guarantee these “as needed” boys a certain amount of work, wether there is work or snow or not. This may or may not be feasable for Woodstock. I would certainly not want to be the smaller, more frugal contract and then twiddle my thumbs waiting for my road/town to get plowed. Mr. P.S. needs to do better homework, or at least his own homework. A good Paralegal, he is not.
Henry,
Yours is the definitive post on this subject. Truer words have never been spoken…..especially around here. Kudos.
Bette, I had to speak with my husband about the potential for out-sourcing. He is involved with this at a large medical firm.
As Michael alluded to there are many scenarios that could be put out to bid.
We would still require an inter-face with the contractor (manager) to insure that they are meeting their obligations.
Do we provide a facility? Do they absorb our present employees? Do they do snow plowing only? Do they use our fuel depot? Do they buy / lease our vehicles and equipment? Is this to be a per hour, per month or per year contract? Do we carry the insurance for them? What is the liability of a contractor working on public streets? The list can go on forever and I’m sure the answers are out there. There are contractors in other towns and cities along with many of them working for the State.
At this time we have some leverage with the employees in the form of their union and the contract they agreed to. Is it cost effective at this time for a community the size of ours to go completely with a contractor? Don’t know, it would require an intensive study of what is presently done by our highway department before anything could be put to paper (contract).
Would it be cost effective to augment our snow plowing with contractors? That might work especially if one of them was local and happened to have a site available to store and mix salt and sand. I know of one in town that does Day Kimball Hospital. They have a salt and sand storage area on the hospital grounds, right above the river, that doesn’t seem to have any problem with run-off.
If a private contractor can afford to do this and the Town can’t it would seem that there is something wrong with the Town. I know that the Highway Foreman has been pushing to get the salt facility done but he keeps hitting the roadblock of micro-managing by Margie.
You get answers and actions from a person (contractor), you get thoughts and lack of action from a committee.
Meghan, As always, you are right on target. Thank you. Glad to know people like you are out there.
Taxpayer,
Your response to The Cheese’s post is another example of the double standard that you apply to your postings here. …(see Curly’s new article. Admin).
“Out-sourcing” is a fad in the corporate world that seems to go in cycles. Establish an “in-house” operation, then it becomes expensive, so “out-source” to save money. Then the contractor gradually raises costs, becomes complacent, lowers quality, etc. So the company takes the service back “in house” to save money.
The town’s special education program used to be outsourced to EastConn to save the expense of establishing a special service “in house” at WPS. Then it became expensive, so they brought it “in house” to save money. Now Preston Schultz wants to outsource it again to save money.
I don’t have any problem with looking at outsourcing. I do have a problem with the assumption – with no basis provided – that it will save money. And Preston “Sargeant” Schultz simply has no credibility and naturally turns every issue into an accusation of “waste, fraud and abuse”.
Inasmuch as so many of our tax dollars go to Woodstock Academy, I think that the Academy’s affairs should be more closely scrutinized by the town. To that end, I think that a proposal, such as Mr. Breen’s, should be thoroughly discussed and evluated in Woodstock.
[...] Time For Change in Woodstock Interesting comment by ‘Harry’ under Stranded’s article. This is a reprint of a Letter to the Editor in the Norwich Bulletin today, August 19th, 2007. This is article #500 at the Cafe. Admin [...]