Board, Parents Have Fingers Crossed For Revote

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Created on Monday, 21 April 2014 17:59

Written by Tyler Dumont

ST. JOHNSBURY - Could round two be the final fight in the push for an approved school budget? Many parents, students, teachers and school board members at the St. Johnsbury School hope so.

"We cut some salaries, we cut benefits - and we have eliminated two non-teaching positions," said School Board member Tony Greenwood, referencing their newly proposed budget of $15.79 million.

It's $180,000 less than their first draft that failed on town meeting day - a price tag of $15.97 million.

The school board will host an informational meeting tonight at 7 p.m. addressing concerns and questions with the revisions.

St. Johnsbury's failed first proposal was just one of dozens of school budgets that failed around Vermont on Town Meeting Day.

"It's not something that you want to happen," said Superintendent Ranny Bledsoe. "It is a part of the culture of our state, and I think it's great that we live in a state where voters and townspeople really get to make decisions about how money is spent."

The newly revised budget, although less than the first draft, is still over $800,000 more than their budget for the current fiscal year which is just over $15 million. But Bledsoe says that's due to increases on the state level, and tuitioning students out to area high schools - expenses, she says, they simply can't control.

Some taxpayers have said they simply can't afford another increase, but parents at the St. Johnsbury School say what the town really can't afford long-term is failing to better fund youth educations.

"Money is part of the issue. Not having it means they can't succeed, people question whether they can succeed," said Garth Leach, who has two young children at the school. "Maybe they don't have the resources to do it? I mean it's a Catch-22."

Tonight's informational meeting on the budget starts at 7 p.m. in the school's auditorium. The revote will happen Thursday at the Father Lively Center.

"And if gets defeated, then we'll try again," Greenwood said. "But, it's very difficult."

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