Speak Up Summit President: School Budget Has Now Been Politicized

What disconcerting news from the Summit powers that be.  Word on the street is that right now a resolution is being drafted by Common Council that will be heard and PASSED at tonight's meeting. 

This resolution mandates that the Board of Education cut an additional $350,000 from the school budget.  You know what?  The school budget will survive.  The most distressing part is that this action changes the very fiber by which Summit operates.  Welcome to the politicizing of the school system.

Going forward, based on this archaic statute that has never been exercized, Council can routinely override or amend any budget that the Board of School Estimate approves.  Since Councilman Madden announced this unprecedented move, the Board of Ed has been thrown into a tailspin.  Months and months of hard work is being undone in a week.  Technically, according to the statute, Council is authorized to slash $13 million from the school budget.  When I first got that message via e-mail I thought certainly there was a typo...there must be a decimal point missing.  But, no, $13 million is the amount by which the school budget exceeds 1.5 percent of the valuation of Summit's ratables. Re-assessment has been political taboo in this town, but since our assessed values do not match the actual values, this inequity exists.

One of the most nagging parts of this whole process is the lack of expertise that some of these politicians have about this budget.  I went to all the budget presentations...I listened to Mike Sandor lobby for the athletic budget–heralding his state championships and the subsequent effect of so many more kids wanting to be Hilltoppers.  I heard Jane Kachmar-Desonne illustrate how the district is creating  revenue with out of district special ed students attending Summit schools.  Doug Orr and the tech team defended their budget with viable, concrete ways the district is utilizing technology so that we remain leaders.  And so on, and so on.   No Council member who was not at every one of these budget meetings should feel empowered to veto the approved budget.  How can council show up now and put an arbitrary price tag on how much needs to be cut?

Our administrators said they would work diligently to reduce the approved budget.  This seemingly arbitrary cut puts our base budget at risk once Gov. Christie's 2.5 percent hard cap becomes effective. As a Type I school district, the Summit residents do not vote on the school budget.  As I have said here before, that we have a Board of School Estimate is one of Summit's attributes.  So, while Summit residents don't have a direct vote on the school budget, we certainly do vote when we decide who will represent us on Council.

This fight is over.  I don't think that anything said here, or at the Council meeting tonight before the vote will sway any opinions.  Once this resolution passes, we become a town divided.  Are you "for" the schools, or "for" the taxpayers.  What garbage.  We are all taxpayers.  There is no place for political maneuvering when it comes to the school budget; the school budget should not be used as a political tool.   

Melanie Wilson

President, Speak Up Summit