The last time the Seymour Schools budget passed on the first referendum was in July of 2009.
That year, in response to the realities of the Great Recession, a zero percent budget increase was requested . . . and received.
Since that time, the school’s budget has increased, on average, only 1.2 percent each year.
Each year, it takes three or four referendum votes to get us there. And in none of these years, with the exception of last year, did the schools receive its “level services” budget (and last year, it was only met because the level services budget was so low, thanks to increases in the number of employees who opted to join a higher deductible, lower initial cost health insurance plan).
With each failed referendum and subsequent decrease to our budget, we experience an increase in divisiveness, nastiness, finger pointing and all around angst.
This shouldn’t be so hard. Our referendum process should be a one-and-done thing. We have about 150 residents working in our schools – many of whom have spouses, parents and/or grown children living in town.
We have about 2,000 parents with children in the district. We have so many town residents without children in the system — from recent high school graduates, to grandparents, to Senior Citizens who volunteer in our schools – who are true supporters of education and who take the responsibility of public education seriously.
Yet each year, we waste $10,000-$15,000 having multiple referendums that end up hurting our children’s educational experience and driving a wedge between residents.
If past patterns hold, 901 “YES” votes should be enough to pass the school budget on May 1; sending a signal that Seymour values education, values our teachers, and above all, values our children.
The budget presentations we have done (four this year plus a spot on Arnie’s Place planned for 4/28) have shown how the budget is a reflection of what I perceive to be important values of our community.
These values include small class sizes, using money cautiously before committing larger funds, making every effort to direct money towards the classroom where it can make the biggest impact on student achievement, and making sure kids have opportunities for a well-rounded school experience.
When the budget is cut – contractual increases stay as they are – they do not decrease. This is the nature of a locally unionized workforce. Seymour is not alone in having to accommodate contractual wage increases that are guaranteed regardless of local economic circumstances or voter wishes.
So when the budget gets cut below what is needed to satisfy contractual demands, we have to “find” ways to cut in other areas. This means things we deem as necessary and important are at risk of being cut.
With a 2.89 percent increase, the proposed budget is modest. It is reasonable. It is thoughtful. It is informed by people who share the values of our community. So please, protect the services our children need and deserve and vote YES on Thursday!
All budget information from the district can be found here.
A link to the budget presentation video shared through the Valley Indy can be found here.
Additionally it should be pointed out that the 2.89% increase is the figure the BOE provided to the BOF in its initial “Level Services” budget. However, in order to meet our goals and make incremental improvements in the educational experience for Seymour’s students, the following monies were reallocated:
We are not filling two clerical paraprofessional positions that were vacated due to retirement (at High School) and resignation (at central office)
We have four retiring teachers at the high school that will be replaced with teachers at a lower salary level. The Science teachers will be replaced with science teachers, the English teacher will be replaced with an English teacher and the Social Studies teacher will be replaced with a fine arts teacher.
Supplies and other accounts were reduced per elementary school administration
Third, the savings from the above factors were then reallocated to:
Additional middle school Language Arts teacher
Addition of a middle school STEM teacher (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)
4 instructional paraprofessionals – two in each elementary school to work with our kindergarten students
.5 physical education teacher at the high school
Funding of 2 middle school clubs, 2 high school clubs, 2 high school sports additional coaches
Additionally, other accounts (like professional services) were trimmed where they could be trimmed to accommodate other increases in the budget (like transportation, health benefits, etc.).
In all of our budget presentations, we stress that the school system is a “service” organization. This means the majority of our expenses (79%, to be exact!) go towards the people who work in our district to provide services our students, families and overall community. Being a service organization with hundreds of employees means that even small wage increases translate to significant total additional dollars needed. (Note: All current union contracts provide for less than an average annual wage increase of 3%).