BARRE — Fallout over a budget vote that recently divided the Barre Unified School Board continues to fuel finger pointing.
That much was evident during a Thursday night board meeting, which began with a fresh wave of accusations and ended with more unanswered questions.
Both sides are indignant. Both have adopted competing narratives involving a board-approved budget, which, if passed by voters in Barre and Barre Town on March 7, would boost spending in the three-school district by 1.5%.
A slim majority of board members, including most who serve on its finance committee, contend that is enough. They cite the district’s spending history, which is reflected in audits like the one that was formally accepted by the board Thursday night as evidence there is ample money to run the pre-K-12 system without overtaxing residents.
The rest suggest the 1.5% increase is woefully inadequate, wildly out of step with neighboring districts, and fiscally and educationally irresponsible. They say the district’s recent run of seven-figure surpluses has been largely fueled by savings associated with needed positions the district hasn’t been able to fill since the start of the pandemic.
More than three weeks after the finance committee first directed administrators to prepare a budget that reflected the 1.5% increase, that document still doesn’t exist. Specific cuts didn’t inform the debate that preceded the board’s narrow approval of the budget two weeks ago, and still weren’t available last week when an attempt to revisit the decision fizzled.
It still isn’t, Superintendent Chris Hennessey said, as the public portion of Thursday night’s meeting was coming to a close, though he predicted it should be by the middle of next week.
Absent that information, those on both sides of the budget debate have been able to portray the $54 million budget request — one that includes an estimated $6 million in grant funding — any way they want.
Those who back the proposed budget have been able to claim it reflects overdue belt-tightening that may shrink year-end fund balances but won’t sacrifice existing positions or programs.
Meanwhile, those opposed to the proposal have been able to contend draconian cuts will be required to hit that 1.5% target — fueling a “vote ‘no’ because the budget’s too low.”
Barre Town resident Megan Spaulding joined a growing chorus of school boosters who have indicated they won’t support the board’s budget request.
“I’m voting this budget down because 1.5(%) is a disgrace and a disservice to our students, and the budget needs to be higher,” Spaulding said, recounting how she was moved to tears based on “hurtful” comments made during a recent finance committee meeting.
“Be kind. Be respectful,” she said, moments after Barre Town resident Mike Titus, suggested that goes both ways.
Titus said he’d watched last week’s board meeting and was troubled by what he viewed as the insubordinate behavior of administrator Jason Derner.
Titus said Derner, who suggested last week he might lose his job for publicly challenging School Director Paul Malone, went too far.
“Maybe he (Derner) should lose his job,” Titus said, even as Chair Sonya Spaulding sought to shut down what she characterized as a personnel-related matter.
Titus obliged, indicating Derner’s behavior was one example of what he viewed as a lack of appreciation for the chain of command.
“If I talked to my boss that way, I’d get fired,” he said.
With respect to the budget, Titus said he didn’t believe it was fair to “mock” those who want the district to live within its means or portray them as not caring about education.
“We all … have the students’ best interests at heart, but we’ve also got to think about the taxpayer,” he said. “We pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation.”
The back-and-forth at the beginning of the meeting continued in writing with Sonya Spaulding reading a pair of comments submitted by Barre Town residents.
One, submitted by Mindy Woodworth “at the request of one of the board members,” expressed concern about the “juvenile engagement” she has witnessed at some board meetings, and was critical of school directors who supported the 1.5% budget increase.
“Decreasing and reallocating funds to the extent that is being suggested is going to lead to a large deficit increasing our taxes exponentially in future years,” Woodworth wrote, adding: “The board members stating they are making these choices ‘for the children’ mocking their peers is not only disrespectful towards their peers who refused to vote for this grossly underfunded budget but also to the members of the community who have been outwardly stating their views on underfunding the schools in this district.”
After reading that letter aloud, Sonya Spaulding read one written by Jeff Blow that questioned the board’s ability to follow its own norms, as well as her leadership.
“I hear you read your meeting norms at the beginning of every meeting. They include being ‘respectful of one another’ and ‘respect the decision of the board,’” Blow wrote. “I ask that you, madam chair, respect the decision of the board and support the finance committee’s recommended budget and ultimately the budget approved by the school board.
“To privately or publicly be encouraging people to vote the budget down is in contradiction to the meeting norms that you read every meeting,” he wrote.
Blow also made reference to the episode involving Derner at last week’s meeting — one he suggested Sonya Spaulding should have shut down sooner.
The meeting, which got off to a bumpy start, ended in similar fashion as Sonya Spaulding joined board members Sarah Pregent and Chris Parker in a context-free comparison of the $54 million budget proposed for the two-town Barre district and the $4.1 million budget requested by the board of the 18-town Central Vermont Career Center School District.
The common denominator was Alice Farrell, who serves on both school boards.
Farrell indicated last week she would have joined the majority in voting for a 1.5% increase in the budget for the Barre district, but Pregent noted she appeared to have supported a 17.75% increase in spending for the career center.
The career center board is proposing its first-ever full-day program to better serve the needs of the students it serves, and the associated tuition costs are built into budgets like Barre’s and do not require raising additional taxes.
However, Parker latched on to the disparity between the two increases.
“We have 60 to 100 students from our district who are enrolled in a program where the budget is being increased 17.75% ‘to reflect the need of the students’ and the rest of our … students are enrolled in a district where we are putting forth a 1.5% increase,” she said. “I wish that there was a reflection of the need of all of our students more equitably in our district.”
Meanwhile, Sonya Spaulding badgered a flustered Farrell, demanding to know whether she voted for the 17.75% increase — roughly $600,000 — in the budget for the career center, while suggesting she favored a 1.5% increase — just over $700,000 in the budget for Barre’s pre-K-12 school system.
The uncomfortable exchange saw board members Terry Reil and Nancy Leclerc attempt to intervene, and Sonya Spaulding ignore them.
“I’m asking a clear question,” Spaulding said before giving up. “It’s in the minutes so we know how you voted.”
david.delcore @timesargus.com
