Smithfield School Committee to ask to reopen town budget
10:35 PM Wed, May 27, 2009 | Permalink
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SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The School Committee isn't giving up yet. After the Town Council slashed $500,000 from the School Department's budget appropriation earlier this month, the committee Wednesday night, decided to ask the council to reopen the budget hearing for further discussion. In a motion accepted at Wednesday night's meeting, the School Committee agreed to ask the town to reinstate $200,000 in Medicaid reimbursements that had previously been cut in order to help the town come in line with the 4.75-percent tax levy cap, said Chairman Richard B. Iannitelli. The School Department pays some medical expenses for special-needs students, such as occupational therapists, that can be reimbursed through the federal Medicaid program. If the town chose to reinstate the money in the school budget, it would have no effect on the tax levy because the money comes from the federal government, Iannitelli said. "I think the town would be smart to encourage the School Department to look for alternate funding wherever it can," Iannitelli said. "Especially funding that's not reliant on state or local money." The schools had requested a $27.4-million local appropriation to support a $32.9-million budget. Instead, voters at the Financial Town Meeting on June 11 will be asked to approve a $26.9-million appropriation. As it stands, the request for the schools exceeds their current operating budget by $800,000. The chop in local funding was an effort to keep the schools from giving teachers raises in the midst of a recession. Several weeks ago, the municipal, police and firefighters unions told the council that they would be willing to consider accepting a pay freeze if School Department employees did the same. The council, in crafting an overall town budget for fiscal 2010, counted on all of the unions making that concession, an assumption that led it to reduce the projected property tax rate increase from 4.5 percent to 3 percent. "It's the classic argument of short-term goals versus long-term goals," Iannitelli said. "The School department has always looked more long term." Last week, the teacher's union notified the School Department that they would not be accepting a wage freeze, as the School Department had asked. Officials last night had no word on whether the other unions would accept a pay freeze in light of the teacher's vote or what affect the decisions will ultimately have on the property tax rate. The School Department is facing what amounts to a $767,000 cut if all stands as it is now, Iannitelli said. In addition to the $500,000 cut from the Town Council, and the $200,000 reduction in Medicaid reimbursement, the schools will receive $67,000 less money from the federal Title 1 program, which provides money for resources aimed at children below the poverty level. The School Committee voted to file the paperwork at least four days before the June 11 Financial Town Meeting, in order to ensure that if the Town Council votes against reinstating the Medicaid money, the School Department could have an opportunity to bring the issue up again at the Financial Town Meeting. As it stands, the Town Council will have to decide whether to reopen the hearing at its June 9 meeting. 
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The teachers accepted no raise last year. Did all of the other town workers do the same?
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Whah Whah Whah. Do you know how many people are unemployed in RI? Teachers should take a pay cut and be happy they still have jobs. I am tired of listening to them complain.
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Why does everyone think that they automatically deserve a raise every year? There are people in the business world who go 2 or 3 years without receiving a raise and are happy they still have jobs. The sense of entitlement is out of control in our society. If you don't like the pay, find another job. Funny how many teachers (and other town employees) complain about how low their pay is yet almost none look for other jobs!
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I keep saying it over and over but no one seems to listen. The right for town employees, including teachers, to unionize is a STATE right. If the legislature had a set they would repel the law at once. You couldn't change the contracts they have now, however, when they are up...no more unionized employees. It's that easy if people would just wake up.
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Iannitelli should be held responsible because he stated over and over again that the the teachers didn't have to accept the freeze and if they did it would open the door for other concessions. He should pay for the increase in tazes to the town not the hard working people who were for the freeze.
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After witnessing the horrible " investigational math" they have foisted upon my daughter in one of the elementary schools , i think the teachers should take a pay cut. What a travesty , and the school committee has deaf ears when they hear the complaints. What the heck ever happened to the good old fashioned math we learned in the early 60's ????? They are producing a generation of dummies. The " no child left behind " really means " no child gets ahead". The common denominator is that the brightest students get no farther along than the least able students.
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Brian- You seem to be forgetting that teachers have a degree in teaching. Just "go out and find another job"? How short sighted. Are you going to pay for another round of college for them? What you said is equivalent to teachers telling you to go out and get another job...perhaps as an engineer or an architect, if you are only qualified to be something else.
Carl- Funny how you say "whah whah whah"....when your occupation seems to be complaining about teachers on the internet. Hypocrite. Teachers deserve all they get. Working with kids/teens in this ever-changing world is not something that all of the people like you who complain would EVER want or be able to do.
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No one has mentioned the concessions that the Teachers' Union made in negotiating this recent contract. They pay more of their medical and other benefits than the municipal unions do. They also supplement their classrroms out of their own pockets. They have little or no opportunity for ovetime even though many of them stay well past the end of the school day preparing for their next set of lessons. The municipal unions can offer to accept wage freezes because they can work the overtime to compensate for their lack of a raise.
In these difficult financial times, I would expect my taxes to increase; however I do not expect the Town Council to retaliate against the School Committee because they won't "tow the line". As a taxpayer with children, I expect the best education available for my children; however I do not accept that it should be on a "shoe string budget". I do not find it fair that the parents will be expected to help supplement the classrooms through donations because of budget cuts. We, as a town, should be providing for and ensuring a proper education for our future. With constant budget cuts and classes at maximums, we are just not doing that.
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