GLOCESTER – The possibility of placing a referendum to help fund local schools before Glocester voters is still in the works, but when the vote might happen – and how much money the town would – request remains in question. Two dates are available for the vote: September 2 or October 7.
“I think we would need a letter from the School Committee letting us know what they intend to do and how much they actually need,” said Councilor Jonathan Burlingame, who serves as the liaison between the council and the committee.
“We need a kind of a framework of what they are spending their money on,” he added.
“The school board or the superintendent have to have that information to us before July 2,” said Council Vice President Walter Steere.
The council later revised the deadline for the school committee to provide a plan to July 7.
The discussion follows approval last month by the General Assembly of legislation allowing the town of Glocester to pursue a vote for a supplemental tax exceeding the maximum allowed according to state regulations, which cap levy increases at four percent each year. Glocester voters passed an initial $35.5 million budget in a referendum in May, but district officials have said the funding fell short of what’s needed for the coming year – and soon after announced plans to lay off 13 teacher’s aides.
If the department can’t provide that information by July 7, the vote would have to be pushed to the October 7 date, said Burlingame. The council then will have to decide at a special council meeting on July 9 whether or not to move forward with a vote on the referendum on September 2, and what the increase in proposed taxes would actually be. The final actual referendum has to be submitted to the state before July 14 for a vote in September. The General Assembly approval noted the referendum would authorize an increase in taxes of no more than an additional 3 percent – but the number could vary depending on the information provided by the schools to determine a final amount.
When questioned, Supt. Renee Palazzo said the majority of the funds would go toward rehiring personnel who had been laid off, including the 13 aides.
“The majority?” asked Steere. “I think the whole intention was we had 85 people in this room talking about how they are losing their jobs. We and the taxpayers need to know what this money will cover.”
“I want to be clear and transparent that there are other unknowns involved, including Title 1, federal money, which we might not get that was already built into the budget,” responded Palazzo. “There are lots of moving parts here. So the majority of what we get would absolutely go towards restoring and retaining as many personnel as possible.”
She added that the department’s original request was for $840,000 more than what was approved in the initial budget.
“Right now we are restructuring things,” said Palazzo. “We are looking at what we have and what we need to open the schools with, but also the unknowns.”
Steere suggested sending a letter to the superintendent and school committee requesting that they outline what they need and give the council that information.
“If they can’t come up with that in this time frame, then we have to look at it later,” he said.
“We’re trying to come up with it as quickly as we can,” said Palazzo. “I just don’t know how detailed the plan is.”
“We basically want to explain to the voters what the money will be spent on,” said Burlingame. “When we put the question on the ballot we want to be able to say to the voters this is the intent. It’s for the school department for this.”
He added that if the money was to bring back all 13 teacher aides, they want to be able to tell voters that is what the money will do.
“Everyone I think had that impression, that the referendum was going to be for that,” said Councilor Cheryl Greathouse.
Palazzo said that she and the committee would do the best they could to get the information to the council as soon as possible.
The town council got the state to approve a 3% bump to the town tax levy and did not know how the money would be spent! Great leadership! They will be waiting for ever for the inept school committee to get their act together