After at least three years of voter support, residents rejected the 2011 – 2012 budget Tuesday — and one school board member is putting some of the blame on the district-wide Parent Teacher Organization.
School board member Michael Macchio said members of the PTO declined to support this year’s budget.
“They didn’t promote the budget as they usually do,” Macchio said.
Macchio, a Republican, believes the PTO was influenced by town Democrats who oppose the Republican majority on the school board.
Town Democrats are trying to angle themselves as the fiscally responsible party, Macchio said. The Dems were “quietly rooting for the budget to go down,” he said.
When asked why parents in the PTO would hope for a school budget defeat, Macchio said:
“The PTO is aligned with the Democratic Party, in my estimation.”
Diane Soracco, president of the PTO, said her organization is not influenced by either political party — and that she is an unaffiliated voter. The organization has parents from all political perspectives.
She denied Macchio’s accusations.
“I’m a kind, hard-working mother. I don’t care who is Republican, who is Democrat. I have nothing against the Board of Education,” Soracco said.
Two years ago, when the school board was under Democratic control, the PTO supported the budget publicly, Macchio said.
Last year when the Republicans took over, the PTO reminded people to vote — but stopped short of advising PTO members to vote “yes,” he said.
This year the PTO did nothing either way, the school board member said.
Macchio sent an e‑mail Tuesday afternoon, the day of the budget vote, asking if the PTO had sent parents a notification regarding the budget vote. He did not receive a response.
At that point the school district sent out its own notification reminding parents to vote.
Reaction
Soracco said the poor economy — not local political affiliations — had more influence over the way people voted.
Soracco said members of the school board did not come to a PTO meeting to ask for help with the budget referendum — as they had done in years past.
Regarding Macchio’s e‑mail question from Tuesday, Soracco said she prefers not to respond to him by e‑mail.
Soracco said the PTO exists to help the school district — not to be a “scapegoat.”
“We are not politically driven,” Soracco said.
Macchio’s opinion was not shared by Democratic school board member Lisa Hellauer.
“I think the turnout was low and you never know (exactly what people are thinking) when the budget goes down,” Hellauer said. “It seems for sure people want a decrease.”
Rose McKinnon, the Republican chairwoman of the Board of Education, did not return a call for comment.
Next Step For The Budget
The Oxford Board of Finance is scheduled to meet Monday, May 23 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss what to do with their defeated budgets.
There’s a chance — although residents will have to wait until Monday to find out — that the same budget may be sent out to voters as is, said Lila Ferrillo, chairwoman of the Board of Finance.
“We can also bring back the same budget, be a little more vocal about it, and explain to people why it is what it is,” Ferrillo said.
