Turn out for what?

I love this for so many reasons.

Our votes matter.

I'm turning out for Education, Women's rights, Equality, Climate change and Gun control. Why are you turning out? 

Edited: After several attempts, I figured out how to make the video display correctly. Or so I thought. Though it works on my laptop, it won't play on my phone. So, in case you're having the same issue, here's the link: http://rockthevote.com/turnoutforwhat/

Know your reps.

Learn about the candidates running for State Office. Project Vote Smart is a great resource. 

For instance, did you know that Adam Schroadter and  Josh Davenport voted for the moratorium on state building aid, voted in favor of eliminating compulsory school attendance, voted against funding for Head Start and voted to repeal universal kindergarten?

Marcia Moody, Michael Cahill and Patty Lovejoy have shown great support for education in NH.

Just the beginning.

I'm watching a recording of last week's School Board budget workshop and I'm sick about it. Not the School Board, not the budget workshop, but the astronomical increase in SPED costs and a decrease in State aid. You can read more about that here.

So, how do we make up the difference? A few suggestions were made during the meeting. Things like increasing SPED case managers' case loads, cutting classroom teachers at the elementary school and only funding what we're contractually obligated to fund. 

None of these suggestions had any real traction with the SB, but I doubt this is the last time we will hear them. 

For now, I'll let some of the School Board members' comments speak for themselves.

"I don't see where we can find the money." 

"How do we go on?"

"I've never seen an explosion in Special Ed like this before."

"I can't get my head around how we're going to find almost half a million bucks."

"We have a responsibility to the kids."

"We need to be prepared to stand up for the teachers that we have and justify why they're there."

"This is what it costs to educate kids."

The budget is on the agenda for tomorrow night's School Board meeting at 7pm. Tune in.

Annoyed again

During the School Board meeting last week, the Finance Director explained that we have approximately $600,000 in unanticipated Special Education costs. That's $600,000 that we didn't budget for, but need to find somewhere. 

I'm annoyed, because in addition to these extra expenses, we've seen our funding sources dwindle. It was mentioned on Thursday evening that one grant was reduced because of sequestration and Catastrophic Aide has been cut repeatedly. 

In order to get accurate numbers and better understand the situation, I scheduled a meeting with the SAU's Finance Director. I hope to better understand the process, the numbers and who's responsible. 

I'll keep you posted. 

Budget Season

It's that time of year again...Budget Season.

This year has started a little differently and the School Board budget workshops are being televised-something I advocated for and am thrilled that the SB decided to do. If you remember, last year many people in the school community were surprised by the proposed cuts-all of which were included in the final budget that passed and was eventually approved by the voters. 

I think it's important to note that our district has cut a total of 15.5 positions in the last 3 budget cycles. But again, this year seems to be different. At the beginning of his initial presentation to the School Board on October 24th, Dr. Hayes made the statement that we have tightened our belts as much as possible--there is no more room to cut. 

But, if everything presented were to pass as it is right now, it would represent a 6% increase in the operating budget. The community needs to know why. 

So what is in the budget? 

• An additional first grade teacher at NES due to increased enrollment.
• 2 mobile laptop carts for NES.
• 18 document cameras for the classrooms at NES-the PTA and other donations purchased some that are currently starting to be used, but each classroom should have one. 
• The replacement of 56 desktop computers for the classrooms and media center at NES--many of the computers at NES are 8-10 years old.
• 4.5 new paraprofessionals as a result of 12 unanticipated students with IEP's moving into our district.
• 5 Smartboards for the High School.
• Approximately $25,000 to replace and update textbooks for the High School-these funds will be used to replace Math textbooks that are damaged or worn out for multiple classes/levels, purchase Adobe photoshop textbooks and to purchase supplemental titles for the Jr. and Sr. High School. 

This is just a little taste of the proposed budget. You can look through the full document here. I also encourage you to watch the last budget presentation and to tune in to Channel 13 on Thursday to see the Elementary School and SAU budgets discussed in detail. If you have questions or want to support an item, email the School Board members or plan to attend one of the November meetings on the 7th or the 21st. 

The final budget goes to the Budget Committee by November 25th. 

Tuition?

A lot of information was presented at last night's school board meeting and my head is swimming. 

I encourage everyone to visit the school district's website and look at all of the information, but also watch the school board meeting to see the presentation. It is complicated and if you're not a numbers person (I'm not) having the explanation and the benefit of questions asked by school board and community members was invaluable.

The biggest point made last night is that it is going to cost a lot of money to tuition grades 9-12 to ORCSD. It is not simply a matter of writing a check to another school district and being done with it. There are many factors that will impact our children's education and our taxes for years to come. 

So get your questions ready---there will be public hearings in September and as those are scheduled, I'll be sure to post that info here. 

Supporting education?

Did you see Michael Cahill's letter to the editor in Friday's Exeter Newsletter?

May 03, 2013 To the Editor: 

We are nearing the end of this legislative session with bills having crossed from one body to the other. Governor Hassan put forth a good budget restoring funding for important programs, and the House version, while making adjustments, maintains the effort to provide needed services within the constraint of state revenue. Among the items of interest, the state will be funding water and sewer projects undertaken by municipalities but left out in the last biennium. Newmarket will receive $34,801 for a wastewater project in FY2015. During this session, we passed SB40 with strong, bi-partisan votes in both bodies. The bill restored education funding to local communities for whom it was cut in 2011. This bill passed 23-0 in the Senate and 303-34 in the House with three of Newmarket's four representatives voting in favor. As a result, Newmarket will receive an additional $27,217 in FY13 for its schools. The House passed HB 617, which through a modest increase in the gas tax of 4 cents annually over three years, will address our long neglected roads and bridges. Funding to cities and towns will enable them to maintain their infrastructure without turning to the property taxpayers. I hope that senators from both parties will approve this common sense approach. 

Michael Cahill
Newmarket
State Rep. Rockingham 17 for Newfields, Newmarket

With the concerns that we have here in Newmarket, I was surprised that Adam Schroadter was one of only 34 Representatives to vote against SB 40. I sent Adam an email asking why--I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to Michael Cahill, Patricia Lovejoy and Marcia Moody for supporting education in Newmarket.