Thursday, May 27, 2010
Deadlocked East Ramapo board puts off decision on school budget
A rancorous East Ramapo Board of Education meeting ended shortly before 2 a.m. today in deadlock with no decision made whether to ask voters to approve a new budget or just accept an austerity spending plan for the 2010-11 school year.
The school board will try one final time to come to a decision on how to deal with the defeat of a $198.7 million budget proposal that slashed more than 100 jobs and closed Hillcrest School, among other cuts.
A special board meeting was set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at school headquarters on Madison Avenue. Board members have until 11:59 p.m. that day to decide whether to try for another budget vote or simply go to an austerity budget. If nothing is done by midnight, austerity kicks in automatically.
“The board could not come to an agreement,” said board president Nathan Rothschild early this morning. “There were some who wanted to go back to a 2-plus percent (budget to budget) increase and a group that wanted to try and come out at a 1.4 percent budget to budget. It ended about 1:50 with no majority and the same numbers over and over again. People’s tempers flared. We just ended it there and (will) try to come back to it on Tuesday.”
The budget dispute was just the latest in a series of unfriendly debates over the district’s spending.
Scores of East Ramapo residents held a vigil Wednesday night outside the administration building before the meeting began. Superintendent of Schools Ira Oustatcher said Wednesday that the district must have a written notice ready for publication in county newspapers by 4 p.m. today if another budget plan is to be put to a public vote June 15, the state’s revote date. The board is required by law to publish the first of two legal notifications by Tuesday. It was unknown this morning what the district’s plans on publication were.
According to several in attendance, the board threatened to call police shortly before midnight to remove some audience members for speaking out of turn during the meeting.
More than 100 East Ramapo and other community residents gathered at the vigil, holding signs that read, "Give the Kids a Chance" and "Closed Schools = Closed Minds."
http://www.lohud.com/article/20105270399
The school board will try one final time to come to a decision on how to deal with the defeat of a $198.7 million budget proposal that slashed more than 100 jobs and closed Hillcrest School, among other cuts.
A special board meeting was set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at school headquarters on Madison Avenue. Board members have until 11:59 p.m. that day to decide whether to try for another budget vote or simply go to an austerity budget. If nothing is done by midnight, austerity kicks in automatically.
“The board could not come to an agreement,” said board president Nathan Rothschild early this morning. “There were some who wanted to go back to a 2-plus percent (budget to budget) increase and a group that wanted to try and come out at a 1.4 percent budget to budget. It ended about 1:50 with no majority and the same numbers over and over again. People’s tempers flared. We just ended it there and (will) try to come back to it on Tuesday.”
The budget dispute was just the latest in a series of unfriendly debates over the district’s spending.
Scores of East Ramapo residents held a vigil Wednesday night outside the administration building before the meeting began. Superintendent of Schools Ira Oustatcher said Wednesday that the district must have a written notice ready for publication in county newspapers by 4 p.m. today if another budget plan is to be put to a public vote June 15, the state’s revote date. The board is required by law to publish the first of two legal notifications by Tuesday. It was unknown this morning what the district’s plans on publication were.
According to several in attendance, the board threatened to call police shortly before midnight to remove some audience members for speaking out of turn during the meeting.
More than 100 East Ramapo and other community residents gathered at the vigil, holding signs that read, "Give the Kids a Chance" and "Closed Schools = Closed Minds."
http://www.lohud.com/article/20105270399
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