Dear Wayland Voter,

Superintendent Gary Burton, whose school department accounts
for two-thirds of town spending, says the Finance Committee's
apparent goal of limiting an override to $1.8 million is arbitrary.
"You don't work for the Fincom," he told the School Committee as
it discussed whether to meet the Fincom's request to trim the
fiscal 2007 budget by $360,000.

The Fincom meets on Monday Feb. 13 to decide on final figures
before a public hearing on Feb. 16.

SELECTMAN'S OVERRIDE PRESENTATION

Selectman Alan Reiss is scheduled to present a slide-illustrated
rundown on tax override options at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday during a
regular BoS meeting. Unless you are there you might not be able
to view the slides. For an electronic copy of the presentation,
email Reiss at AlanJReiss@....


Tom Sciacca reports below on the School Committeee meeting.

SCHOOLCOM DEBATES FINCOM'S CUT REQUEST

The special meeting of the School Committee on Feb. 8 was
devoted to a discussion on responding to the Finance
Committee's request for $360,000 in reductions from the budget
the committee submitted last week. More than a dozen people
showed up to make public comments, including several
elementary school teachers, with one message: "We would be
in favor of an override".

The teachers were advocating that specialist cuts contained in
the recommended budget be reversed, with two saying that the
art and physical education programs are far different and much
better than those that adults might remember from their school
years. Some school parents, however, have said that they want
the town to support education just as good as that available to
children of current older citizens.

Lisa Valone, the school parent who reports on School
Committee meetings for the school-parent-run website
Waylandenews.com, spoke at the beginning and end of the
meeting to the effect that the School Committee should make no
compromises in its budget. Ms. Valone has delivered the same
message at the last five regular school committee meetings.

Chair Jeff Dieffenbach told the speakers that they had
sympathetic ears in the School Committee, but they ought to be
writing to the Fincom and the Board of Selectmen.

Dieffenbach provided some background to the Fincom's request,
saying that while a truly "level services" budget would be about
$28.75 million, the committee had sent a $28.5 million
recommendation. Now Fincom is asking for a $28.15 million
version. The committee wrangled over the history of the budget
process until member Louis Jurist suggested they should stop
arguing over where they were and start figuring out how to get
to the Fincom's number.

But Superintendent Gary Burton angrily said that he didn't agree
that $28.75 million ever was a level services budget, and the
$1.8 million override that the Fincom is reportedly trying to reach
with its budget reduction requests is an arbitrary goal.

"You don't work for the Fincom," he said. He "begrudgingly" as he
put it, developed the $360,000 in reductions, but recommended
that the School Committee not accept it. He went on to say that
he was asked to come up with incredibly specific numbers in
service of a totally arbitrary number.

Member Heather Pineault countered that the Fincom is only
trying to fairly determine what the level services starting point
really is. But other members continued to express frustration.
Vice-chair Bob Gordon said that the budget should be a decision
of the School Committee rather than the Fincom, "or at a
minimum the voters".

Finally Burton laid out three possible scenarios to achieve the
reductions:

1. Put eight kindergarten classes in one of the smaller
elementary schools (Loker or Happy Hollow), grades one and
two in the other, and three through five in Claypit Hill. Close the
rest of the building with the kindergartens and run it as an annex
of the other schools, eliminating its administrative staff and
lunch program.

2. Eliminate four teaching positions ($200,000) and reduce
athletics and extracurricular activities by $160,000.

3. Reduce seven FTEs (unspecified full-time equivalents) at the
middle school and high school.

BURTON: SPARE YOUNG FAMILIES FROM FEES

Jurist suggested that they could get $200,000 with increased
fees. But Burton said that would be unfair to a "select group of
families". Later he said that fees were an attempt to shift the tax
burden off the backs of some people "many of whom have the
means to pay higher taxes" and shift it onto the backs of young
families.

Dieffenbach mentioned, perhaps facetiously, the possibility of
being "civilly disobedient" and simply not responding to the
Fincom.

Members questioned whether there were any less painful ways
of achieving reductions. But Burton said he couldn't find anything
in the budget costing any significant amount of money that
somebody wouldn't complain about if it were eliminated. "You
paid us a fairly good salary" to go through many budget-cutting
exercises, he said.

Jurist argued again for more fees rather than eliminating sports,
for example. Burton, Dieffenbach, and Gordon argued against it.
"We think you've reached the tipping point on fees," Burton said.
He suggested eliminating spring sports or all freshman teams
as possible ways to partially cut sports.

The discussion as to which option to present to the Fincom led
to a consensus to present all three and make a choice only if
and when it becomes absolutely necessary.

"This particular set of cuts is nuts," said Gordon.

The group then briefly discussed what it would restore were it
given the luxury of dealing with what it considers a "level
services" budget. Adding 1.1 FTE's back into the Middle School
and 2.8 elementary specialists in the elementary schools
satisfied the committee, which did not debate Gordon's
contention that some $200,000 in additional fees was
already part of their base assumptions.

The Fincom will make its decisions on Monday Feb. 13 and hold
a public hearing on the 16th. The School Committee scheduled
its next meeting for the 14th.


Thank you for reading this WVN newsletter. Please forward it to
your friends and neighbors in Wayland. If they want to receive
their own copy, they can send an email to
waylandvoters@... and
they will be signed up for the listserv. Or, they can sign
themselves up by sending a blank email to:
waylandvotersnetwork-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Click reply and send after receiving an e-mail confirming the
subscription.

Wayland Voters Network
Michael Short, Editor