MyTownMatters Commentary
Finally someone tells it like it is.
Last Thursday we attended the open forum hosted by the Milton School Administration and School Committee.
The forum was held to provide parents and concerned citizens an opportunity to speak and ask questions regarding the steps the school will take if an override fails and they are forced to meet a non-contingent budget.
In short, the school will cut 45 head count system wide, class sizes will on average swell to 30 or more, the high school’s accreditation could be at risk, and logistical challenges will arise in attempts to manage French Immersion across the 4 elementary schools that have to stay open.
Not surprisingly, parents who attended the forum were upset at the implications. A range of concerns were voiced: parents questioned if learning can possibly take place in a class that has more than thirty students; some questioned the value of the French Immersion, some expressed dismay that they had recently moved to town because of the school system program and now look what happened. One parent moved his family to Milton for French Immersion program.
And then Brian Kelly spoke.
Mr. Kelly is the host of the local cable access show “Talk of the Town”. He likes to talk. So much so that he was gently chided by Committee member Sheridan at one point to wrap it up.
Kelly did not address the administration or the committee. When it was his turn to speak, he addressed the audience.
He spoke with a level of force and a degree of passion and it was about time someone did.
And talk he did; that was a good thing.
In short, he spoke with force and passion and he put the responsibility for change not on the School Committee or the School Administration but on the voters of Milton; or the lack of voters in Milton. “How many people here voted last Tuesday?” Kelly asked. He was taking issue with the pathetic 22.8% voter turnout. “This place should be standing room only,” Kelly exclaimed. And why wasn’t it?
Kelly’s words were a call to action for the audience to get involved, speak to their neighbors, their friends, and whomever in town they know, however they may know them and educate them about the town crisis (and there is really no other way to put it) and lobby them as appropriate. Everyone in town is represented by 11 town meeting members. Call them and tell them how you want them to vote on the articles regarding the contingent budget. Your town meeting members represent you.
Three things need to happen:
- The town meeting needs to vote in favor of a contingent budget. The town warrant composed by the Warrant Committee and mailed to all residents has essentially two budgets, a contingent budget and a non-contingent budget. We will have a separate post tomorrow on the Warrant articles but that should not get in the way of your reading them today.
- The Board of Selectment need to come to agreement that an override election is in order and the amount of the override based on what happens at town meeting
- Assuming an election is called for, the override needs to pass
Kelly’s point was that will not happen if the people who care about it happening don’t do something about it. There is nothing the school administration can do. There is nothing the school committee can do. All they can do is cope with the budgetary hand they are dealt and let the public know how it is likely to play out. They have done that. Now it is our turn, the voters turn.
You can have whatever opinion about the cuts in state aid or the SBA’s ruling on the opportunity to close a school, or the fact that stimulus funds, however much they may be, are not a viable solution to deter layoffs or the refusal of the teacher’s union to return to the negotiating table to review how and under what conditions they might agree to a wage freeze. As Kelly said, “It is what it is!” We need to get over it and deal with the situation. We need the override to happen and “we — even we here — have the power and bear the responsibility” to make it happen. Those are Lincoln’s words, not mine.
It is not enough to hope for an override election and then vote in favor of the override. We need to do more – lobby town meeting members, lobby the Board of Selectmen and make our best efforts to use the democratic process to get the change we need.
If we do not then we will endure the changes the school administration will be forced to make in order to meet the budget they are given. And understand this, it is not simply a school issue. If a contingent budget fails to pass then the Police Dpartment will lay off 5 officers, 2 (911) operators, and 6 traffic supervisors. Response times will increase and police presence on the streets will decrease. The Fire Department will lay off 5 firemen and close a fire station, response times will be increased, and repairs to equipment and building which are already underfunded will be all but eliminated.
So now is the time to do something. And it is up to you and me to do it. Thanks for the wake up call Mr. Kelly.
Lastly, we understand that not everyone will agree with this position. Please leave a comment whether you agree or disagree. This is matters a great deal to the town.