Edgemont budget hearing debrief

Tuesday evening the school board conducted an open hearing on the school budget. Hundreds of people showed up, and many tens of people made statements for the record. Members of the board itself did not speak for or against the budget, I gather because they are limited in what they can say by state law. (Also, board president Richard Glickstein said the purpose of the hearing was to listen to the community, not so speak.) Glickstein and superintendent Nancy Taddiken did answer some direct questions.

Following are some of the key points from speakers on each side of the budget issue.

• Points from the "I voted against the budget" crowd:
  
  
  • Double-digit tax increases are too high and not sustainable.
  • Perhaps the board did not not look under every rock to keep the budget low.
  • The board could and should have done a much better job communicating to the public about issues related to the budget.
  
  
• Points from the "I voted for the budget" crowd:
  
  
  • Our schools are important; we want our kids to get the best education possible; good schools help property values.
    
  • An austerity budget would be bad for the schools.
  • The bulk of the increases this year were non-discretionary (e.g., nationally-mandated accounting changes, contractual obligations, assessed real estate value in the district lower this year than last, etc.)
  • We have faith in our board.
    

For the record I agree with every one of the above statements, on both sides.

I voted for the budget, but grimaced at the amount of the tax increase. I am not altogether unhappy that the first vote went (barely) against the budget, because I think it will further open eyes in the community (and the board) to the need to keep spending down.

That said, however, I think it is vital that we pass the budget the second time round.