February 20,
2009
GUEST
EDITORIAL
The Importance of
Supporting School Articles 2 and 5
By IVAN
BELIVEAU |
The recent School Board Deliberative
Session was very timely and appreciated for its useful information. It’s important to see that our students have the opportunity to get a good education.
The rendition from the school play Grease was especially entertaining particularly for those who remember the 1960’s.
Many Goffstown residents, for instance, can remember that around 1967 approximately 1,700 students cost less than $1,000,000 to educate (all buildings included). Times have certainly changed.
It now costs around $33,000,000 (total School Board budget) to educate roughly 3,000 students, although the total cost, as presented by the SB, is a little confusing to understand.
The School Board states that it costs a little less than $9,000 to educate each student. At $9,000 each, the total cost for 3,000 students should be $27,000,000. What is the additional $6,000,000 spent on? Is that $6,000,000 spent on educating students or not?
There are many unanswered questions: If the schools budget is 30 times what it was in 1967, what will it be in the not too distant future? If each of the roughly 5,000 households in Goffstown has to spend an average of $6,000 (revenues aside) to fund schools, what is it going to be in the future? Will expected/anticipated revenues increase or decrease? What will be our household incomes in the not too distant future?
These are uncertain times and it is important that everyone stays/gets informed. For instance, it is vital that Goffstown residents pay attention to the upcoming elections and voting on the budget on March 10.
It is IMPERATIVE that the recommended budget, and NOT the default budget, be
supported if there is to be a reduction in the schools budget.
It is also imperative that residents vote YES on Article 5 if there is to be a system of checks and balances by the Budget Committee on the
School Board's budget process.
We are the taxpayers and we get to decide how our hard-earned money is spent! Lets all work together to achieve an effective and affordable educational system.
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