Orford
Some who attended the district’s annual meeting said the budget was too much of a burden on taxpayers, while supporters said the money was worth it to continue Rivendell’s high-quality education.
By the end of the night, residents of Orford, West Fairlee, Fairlee and Vershire had waited almost three hours to take a final vote on the district’s $10.5 million budget, approving it 185-65.
“I want to make sure everybody is keenly aware that we are a small, rural school district that operates three schools, and that’s expensive,” School Board Vice Chairman Mark Avery told the audience.
The School Board’s proposed budget amounted to a $363,348 increase over the current year’s, largely caused by rising special education costs, more interest in vocational programs and building maintenance, officials said.
The district also signed one-year contracts with the Rivendell teacher and support staff this year. That’s expected to cost the district an additional $140,000 in salaries, but School Board members said they hope to see greater savings on health care.
On Jan. 1, the Vermont Education Health Initiative will implement new health plans for the state’s teachers. Because the school district offered both unions a favorable contract, Avery said, Rivendell is hoping they’ll choose a high-deducible plan that could save taxpayers about $240,000.
However, some voters said the school district was too generous when negotiating with the teachers and support staff.
“There’s a lot of folks in this town that can’t pay their taxes. They can’t pay their insurance,” said Orford resident Jim McGoff, who made a motion to cut the budget by $200,000.
When the district was formed, McGoff said, residents were told their taxes would decrease. Instead, property owners continually see the school district ask for larger budgets every year, he said.
“You throw out 3.5 percent like you’re throwing marbles down,” McGoff said, adding he could do a better job negotiating.
“OK, well, good luck with that,” Avery replied.
Fairlee resident Peter Lang also took issue with how much the district is paying on average for each student. Rivendell’s per-pupil costs currently stand at $18,311, which is about $3,500 more than the average Vermont school.
“Paying 25 percent more per student than other towns pay, I don’t think that’s reasonable,” Lang said, while also blaming the school administration for the costs.
But supporters of the school district shot back that the money is well worth the education that Rivendell students are getting.
Keri Gelenian, the district’s head of schools, said Rivendell is a capital investment, one that affords students a good education, the ability to get good jobs and contribute to the community. Successful students, he said, are the return on investment that voters should be looking toward.
“I’m absolutely sick and tired of moaning, especially from the people who put a quarter in the coffee cup of the Orford Social Library,” Gelenian said.
Nancy Murphy, of Orford, also questioned the reasoning of cutting $200,000 from the budget. “I think the School Board has spent a lot of time coming up with a budget and to just pull a number out of a hat to reduce it seems irresponsible,” she said.
After a ballot vote, the motion to cut the budget failed, 189-70. Although residents asked for the final budget vote to move quickly, others called for a second ballot.
“Shame on you!” yelled one man in the audience, directing his anger toward those who called for the ballot.
“I know who you are, too,” the man yelled, before being threatened with removal from the moderator.
Ultimately, the School Board’s proposed budget passed, 185-65.
Voters also defeated (68-40) a proposal that would have required the budget’s tax allocation verified by the district auditors.
On the ballot, incumbent School Board members Katherine Blanchard, David Gagner, Kathy Hooke, Bruce Lyndes and David Ricker were running unopposed for re-election. West Fairlee resident Cory Austin was also running unopposed for an open board seat.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.