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July 08. 2012 10:47PM
Franklin school chair seeks budget support
FRANKLIN — The school board chairman is asking residents to come to tonight’s city council hearing on the proposed city budget to show their support for the city’s students and education programs, which he fears may be cut by the council.
At a recent budget workshop, a city councilor made a motion to cut $50,000 in school district funds, said City Manager Elizabeth Dragon.
The school district has requested a budget of $4,389,370, which is an increase of $129,117 over last year.
The councilor was suggesting, Dragon said, that the cut be paid for from the school district’s budget surplus of nearly $400,000.
But School Board Chairman Ray Yonaitis said the school board has the authority on how to spend its approved budget money, including its surplus money.
And the district has spent almost all of the surplus — which was plentiful because of the mild winter, which lowered heating and snow-related costs — on much-need repairs to the showers in the boys locker room, fixing a roof, and other repairs, he said.
Yonaitis said he’s also worried that the council will cut more from more school funding.
“What I am asking the residents of Franklin to do is to come to the city council public hearing (on Monday) and let the city councilors know that the school district needs the funds that they have requested,” he said in a letter to residents last week.
“I would also like the citizens of Franklin to let the Franklin city councilors know that we need the tax dollars collected by the city for the schools to go to the schools.”
Yonaitis said Friday he had heard a tape recording of a recent city budget session in which it was suggested that up to $600,000 could be cut from the school budget. Dragon said she had not heard any such suggestion.
“We have the lowest dollar-per-child spent (on education) in the state, and we’ve lost many teachers, seven this past year, because there are better opportunities in the area around us,” he said. “It’s very frustrating, we’d like to have the city leave our budget alone aside from the bottom line, like they’re supposed to.”
The city’s overall $9.72 million budget proposal is up 1 percent from last year, keeping within the city’s tax cap structure.
The budget hearing is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
dseufert@newstote.com
At a recent budget workshop, a city councilor made a motion to cut $50,000 in school district funds, said City Manager Elizabeth Dragon.
The school district has requested a budget of $4,389,370, which is an increase of $129,117 over last year.
The councilor was suggesting, Dragon said, that the cut be paid for from the school district’s budget surplus of nearly $400,000.
But School Board Chairman Ray Yonaitis said the school board has the authority on how to spend its approved budget money, including its surplus money.
And the district has spent almost all of the surplus — which was plentiful because of the mild winter, which lowered heating and snow-related costs — on much-need repairs to the showers in the boys locker room, fixing a roof, and other repairs, he said.
Yonaitis said he’s also worried that the council will cut more from more school funding.
“What I am asking the residents of Franklin to do is to come to the city council public hearing (on Monday) and let the city councilors know that the school district needs the funds that they have requested,” he said in a letter to residents last week.
“I would also like the citizens of Franklin to let the Franklin city councilors know that we need the tax dollars collected by the city for the schools to go to the schools.”
Yonaitis said Friday he had heard a tape recording of a recent city budget session in which it was suggested that up to $600,000 could be cut from the school budget. Dragon said she had not heard any such suggestion.
“We have the lowest dollar-per-child spent (on education) in the state, and we’ve lost many teachers, seven this past year, because there are better opportunities in the area around us,” he said. “It’s very frustrating, we’d like to have the city leave our budget alone aside from the bottom line, like they’re supposed to.”
The city’s overall $9.72 million budget proposal is up 1 percent from last year, keeping within the city’s tax cap structure.
The budget hearing is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
dseufert@newstote.com
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