Sue Flicop

Wow…tonight’s meeting was the MOST interesting School Committee meeting I’ve ever been to! Besides covering interesting topics, there was quite a lot of emotion (anger, exasperation, surprise) as well as some laughter. I know I’ve written this before, but if you get a chance, turn on NewTV and watch some of it.

I’m going to cut to the chase here: the Mayor said that he might not be able to give the School Committee about $1 million of the money that he previously included in his allocation for FY10.   [Sounds like this is due to potential budget cuts at the state level, as well as no movement on the Municipal Relief Act.]  Although it sounds like splitting hairs, he did say that he will be giving the schools the $1 million in one-time money that the School Committee essentially lent the city in FY 08. This means a potential reduction in $1 million overall, and that the newly proposed budget might need to be sent back to the drawing board, depending on the final amount that the Mayor has to give to the schools.

Wednesday night’s special meeting of the School Committee is still on—for now. Marc Laredo and Mayor Cohen will be meeting tomorrow to talk more, and will determine whether or not to continue budget talks on Wednesday or wait until more information is available. Either way, there will not be a final vote on the budget until after school vacation.

In other news, there was a discussion about the new proposed fundraising policy. It would be great for the PTOs (and anyone else) to review it and make comments….here’s the link:  SC Proposed Fundraising Policy

One other document was heavily discussed tonight—the report of the Fees Subcommittee. There were no recommendations regarding transportation fees and no notice given to the groups affected by proposed changes in C Permits Use of School Buildings Fees, so no vote was taken tonight. There was discussion about whether or not to vote on the school budget that includes about $100,000 in fee increases without any idea or official vote regarding where the money would come from. The end result of the heated discussion—that there would still be a vote on Wednesday and members could make motions regarding the $100,000—might be moot, since there will be no vote on Wednesday night. Here’s the link to the document:   SC Fees Subcommittee Report