A request for Worcester County staff to meet with board of education staff to start a dialogue on the budget failed this week with the support of just two commissioners.
On April 16, Commissioner Eric Fiori told the Worcester County Commissioners he’d met with Worcester County Board of Education leadership and they wanted the two sides to find a way to work collaboratively. Fiori’s motion to set up a staff meeting, however, failed, with the majority of the commissioners indicating enough staff time has been spent on the education budget.
“We are not here to micromanage their budget,” Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said. “It is their budget. They’re an elected board they’re there to take care of their budget. We either fund it or not. You just gotta put on your big boy pants and vote yes or no on their budget. We’ve wasted enough time with county staff with this going on this long. I think it’s time we move on. We either fund it or we don’t. Let’s get on with the business of running the county.”
Fiori told the commissioners that he’d met with members of the school system’s leadership team and they wanted their budget staff to meet with the county’s budget staff to come up with a way to work collaboratively. He said they wanted more of an open dialogue where staff could come up with some ideas to bring back to elected officials. He said maybe small changes could yield additional dollars for the school system.
“We want all our teachers, support staff and bus drivers to receive their raises,” he said.
Why bother funding the County Schools at all? I say cut it to zero. Kids learned better in the old days anyway when they worked on the farm and learned reading and writing and arithmetic at home. Besides, nowadays the kids will just grow up to be slaves anyway. I told you all this would happen but you didn’t listen.
Jack, aren’t you the guy who claimed his “hands were registered as deadly weapons”? Your various comments provide a lot of entertainment value for the rest of us!
“We are not here to micromanage their budget,” That is exactly what they are trying to do.
Am I the only one noticing that the more $$ they get is producing worse academic results?
The local BOEs have little in the way of discretionary power, and don’t want to risk losing face by speaking up for local parents or taxpayers. The state is where things are decided, all by appointees and hirelings, all untouchables.
Defund public education issue vouchers to everyone..dissolve the current corrupt BOE tax sucking failure
Absolutely absurd- the BOE wants the County accountants to do their job for them. I call this willful incompetence- they definitely understand; they just don’t want to do the work. Commissionrs were correct not to dedicate more County accounting staff hours to doing the BOE’s job for them.