When our Borough School Board fails to review every budget request from their Superintendent and Central Office Staff and make the appropriate cuts to reflect the actual needs of each school in the District rather than all the dreams and wants that each school always has they are not serving the taxpayers in the Borough who foot the bill. This is the way it has been for many, many years. Our Borough School Board has become simply a “rubber stamp” in approving the overall budget of the educators they are elected to oversee.

When that happens, it means that our Borough Assembly must make the hard decisions actually keeping education expenses in line each year. They simply must be the “dollar stops here” government body.

That of course has not been the case for many years. The Assembly, led by a majority, who seems to think that the Borough Assembly’s job is to give the Central Office Staff at Borough Hall every thing they want. That of course is what has been going on for a long time. The Borough Assembly has funded our educators to the max and the “padded” school budget  means that many extra dollars have accumulated over the years.

But  finally!…our Borough Assembly appears to have seen the light and have approved a small cut in the School Boards funding request for this next year which leaves a total of $41million in funding for the District.  That is still ridiculously high and certainly still leaves a generous amount of taxpayer dollars in the education hopper.  That is because over the past three years alone over $12 million has been left over and not spent. In addition, the School District has received at least $9 million in Obama stimulous funds and maybe much more.

The cost of educating each student in our Kenai Peninsula Borough has soared over the last few years to one of the very highest in the state at just over $5.000. 

A Resolution submitted last night by Assemblyman Hal Smalley, a former school teacher, sought to reinstate the cuts in the School Budget, and once again continue the past practice of giving the School Board more and more money each year.

Thankfully, the measure failed and taxpayers in the Borough can at least feel good about the Assembly “sticking to their guns” and making a small cut in the “out of control” school board spending request for the coming year.

Think About It!      JCD  5/5/10

Filed under: Think About It by Admin