Possible budget vote fail and deciding to put up for second vote.

Hello all.

I can say that heading into my 10th year as board president I never would have forseen this mess unfolding in regards to the annual school board election and budget vote. I hate to say that even before we set out budget, as we are waiting to hear if the governor does anything further with aid cuts come this weekend, it is sounding that no matter what we put up, we are going to have an uphill battle for the puiblic to approve the budget. Especially since we have a group who is lobbying people to send back in their ballots with no checked on them even before we release the final numbers.

So here is my question that I do not want to pose to my super and business official as they are beyond stressed right now. If a district's budget vote fails and it is decided to put up another. Does anyone think that the powers that be in the state realized that the incoming board members could be working to make the budget fail as they would be sworn and possibly be able to enact changes in the budget becuase of the timing of the district vote?

Also, the issue that this raises with starting the next fiscal year without a budget in place, does anyone think that the governor will say districts that fail must enact a contigency budget and may not put it back up for vote. I know that for some districts, putting the budget back up will be cost prohibitve.

I can say that I could see a record number of district budgets failing this year.

Steven,
I share your fear of budgets failing too. I know that schools are the easy target for many, especially those without kids who do not see the societal value of public education. I recently realized that I was being a hypocrite about this subject because i was complaining about making voting too easy for people who will just vote no because they can. I am an advocate for making voting easier. I believe that we should have early voting, mail in voting and/or internet voting to make it easier for people to cast their ballot. I believe that we need to increase voter turnout for every election, so you can see why I was feeling hypocritical when complaining about our situation.

It is incumbent on us, as elected leaders, to education the residents of our districts about our budgets, bus proposals, building projects and what ever else is appearing on our ballots. I am in my 10th year on our board and i know the struggles involved in getting things passed, but we must allow our residents to be heard.

it pains me to think this way, knowing that our kids are the ones who will suffer if the "no's" win out. But we cannot simply ignore the fact that the people who vote no "just because" have a right to be heard too and we cannot discount their opinion because we do not like it or we think it is dumb.

I would love some assistance from NYSSBA on this. Help us by giving us some tips or tools so that we can educate our residents in a cost effective manner. I know the quick answer is social media but I think we need help in forming the message. Many of our district leaders are great leaders but not necessarily great marketers, we need some help and we need it quickly.

So, yes, I am afraid our budget will fail and that we will have to make a costly decision about putting it up again. I am going to make every effort in my district to avoid that by educating as many people as I can.

Bill

situation.it

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Replies

Carol Popolow Abraham May 18, 2020 at 8:57am

We too are afraid our budget will fail and with no guidance or time for a re-vote a contingency budget is a real possibility. For us, in the Hendrick Hudson School District, this will be devastating. I am sure it will be difficult for many of you as well.
We, also, have a community group that is pushing for a NO vote and they have a head start on many other community groups. This group was already gearing up last year because of the loss of our PILOT agreement with the Entergy Nuclear Plant. They have been building up a social media presence and have already published a YouTube video, which of course contains inaccuracies and half truths to stir up the community. I take comfort in knowing that even though they have a reach of a few hundred people that they don't have the ability to reach the whole community the way the school district can.
Now is the time to work hard to leverage that advantage with an excellent communication strategy to educate the voting public on the importance of a good school system and why we ALL must contribute to it's success or face the consequences of it's failure. It's going to be an uphill battle in these uncertain times. Good luck to you all.
Bill Grau May 15, 2020 at 9:07am

Steven,
I share your fear of budgets failing too. I know that schools are the easy target for many, especially those without kids who do not see the societal value of public education. I recently realized that I was being a hypocrite about this subject because i was complaining about making voting too easy for people who will just vote no because they can. I am an advocate for making voting easier. I believe that we should have early voting, mail in voting and/or internet voting to make it easier for people to cast their ballot. I believe that we need to increase voter turnout for every election, so you can see why I was feeling hypocritical when complaining about our situation.

It is incumbent on us, as elected leaders, to education the residents of our districts about our budgets, bus proposals, building projects and what ever else is appearing on our ballots. I am in my 10th year on our board and i know the struggles involved in getting things passed, but we must allow our residents to be heard.

it pains me to think this way, knowing that our kids are the ones who will suffer if the "no's" win out. But we cannot simply ignore the fact that the people who vote no "just because" have a right to be heard too and we cannot discount their opinion because we do not like it or we think it is dumb.

I would love some assistance from NYSSBA on this. Help us by giving us some tips or tools so that we can educate our residents in a cost effective manner. I know the quick answer is social media but I think we need help in forming the message. Many of our district leaders are great leaders but not necessarily great marketers, we need some help and we need it quickly.

So, yes, I am afraid our budget will fail and that we will have to make a costly decision about putting it up again. I am going to make every effort in my district to avoid that by educating as many people as I can.

Bill

situation.it

This domain may be for sale!

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