The following letter to the editor was submitted by Andover resident Steve Walther (photo). The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Andover News. You can learn more about our policy on opinion and commentary on our Mission and Policies page.
The School Committee (SC) would like you to believe they are the soul of fiscal propriety. They claim even a temporary use of non-recurring funds (such as money requested from the Town’s free cash in the amendment passed by the voters) for their operating budget is unacceptable. The operating budget is supposedly only for ongoing expenses and funded by recurring revenue. The SC wants you to forget that they haven’t followed their own guidance. Their opposition to article 1 is phony, their excuses are a fiction.
Fact: Over the last three years the SC operating budget has taken on about $1.7 million of annual Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) costs that shouldn’t be in an operating budget.
Example: On 1/27/22 the SC voted 5-0 in favor of moving a CIP expense (Doherty Middle School facilities construction) into their operating budget and consuming over $500.000 per year. Why? The Town CIP budget wasn’t big enough and they didn’t want to ask Town Meeting for more money. SC Chair Tracy Spruce makes this clear, from the 1/13/22 SC meeting: At 1:37 Spruce admitted they don’t want to ask for more money at Town Meeting: “It feels uncomfortable to go to the community every year for $8 million dollars here or $3 million dollars there… if we can do that another way… I appreciate the creativity.”
Fact: The SC is happy to take non-recurring funds for labor expenses.
Example: The SC used a 2-year (FY23-24) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant to hire additional guidance counselors.
Article 1 gives the SC the opportunity to remove non-recurring CIP expenses that shouldn’t be in the operating budget, and use article 1 funding as a bridge to get them properly funded through Town Meeting in 2025. The operating budget money rashly allocated to CIP, can then be used appropriately for recurring expenses such as teacher salaries. If APS needs additional staff cuts, they have an additional year of attrition in 2025 to make those cuts without so much pain. This respects the voter’s input from the 2024 Town Meeting and allows voters appropriate oversight of CIP in 2025, without the APS budget shenanigans. Vote yes on article 1.
Steve Walther
Andover
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