Mayor David Runfeldt

Comments on March 19 LP Board of Education Meeting

The Board of Education held their monthly meeting last night.   Although the elected Board of Education and the administration of the schools are completely separate from the Town Council and Borough Administration, I thought it was important that all residents and taxpayers of Lincoln Park be aware of what is currently happening in the school district whether you currently have school age children or not.   The information I am presenting is based on my attendance at the meeting last night and talks with elected officials and administrators both for the Borough and the Board of Education.

Recently, as part of the yearly budget process, the members of the Board of Education were notified of a significant “shortfall” in next year’s budget.   Although the exact amount of the shortfall was not provided at last night’s meeting, it was mentioned that it was primarily due to several factors.  These factors included an unanticipated large increase of costs to provide certain programs and the loss of revenue such as “COVID money” from sources such as the American Rescue Plan and the CARES Act.

Many of the Board members felt they were “blindsided” by this information which came very late in the budget process from the school superintendent and business administrator.  This resulted in a very short time to examine the budget to figure out the best way to continue to provide as much of the current level of programs and staffing with an acceptable tax implication.  The action taken by the elected Board members last night was to NOT approve the budget presented by the superintendent.   The Board has until the end of April to make changes and formulate a budget that they approve and send that budget to the state for approval.

It is important to understand how the School Board Budget process works from this point on.  The School Board can “self-approve” a budget that comes in at no more than a 2% increase in taxes from the previous year’s budget.  If the budget is under 2% the Board can vote on its approval and send it to the state.  If the budget presented is more than a 2% increase to the tax levy, then the budget must be placed on a town-wide ballot and can be approved or vetoed by the registered voters of the Borough.  If approved at this stage, the budget then gets submitted to the state for final approval.   If the budget is not approved by the voters of town, the Board of Education must adopt a budget with no more than a 2% increase to taxes.  Prior to 2010, if the budget were to not pass the town referendum, then it would have gone to the town Council for final changes, cuts or additions.  That was the ONLY time the elected members of the town government had any input or oversight to the operation of the schools, and this was taken away by the state in 2010. 

I would like to share some of my thoughts following last night’s Board of Education meeting.

First, I believe the Board Members were very wise in NOT approving the budget that was presented last night.  I think that more time is needed to figure out the best way to navigate the eventual combination of cost cuts and tax increases that will likely be needed.

To the best of my knowledge there is nothing criminal that took place and luckily nearly all of the public in attendance last night seemed to feel that way as well.  Underestimating future potential increases to costs and services, and not applying non-recurring sources of income correctly may be a gamble, or a mistake, but they are not criminal.

It appeared, to me, that the elected members of the Board were quite disturbed with the situation the budget is in.  Many used terms like “embarrassed” and “disgusted” when describing how they felt about the situation.  Keep in mind that the elected members of the Board are our neighbors.   They volunteer their time and energy because they care about your children.  They have done a wonderful job in this regard, as was evident by the vast majority of the general public showing appreciation to the teachers, the programs and the quality of education their children receive.  This same Board under question is also the one that has maintained, started or improved many of the programs and the quality of education that has been provided and spoken so highly about.

Budgeting and day-to-day operations of the school district is the responsibility of the paid professionals that the Board employs.   Sometimes, the action taken by the Board is only as good as the recommendations of these paid professionals.   At the meeting the Board stated the reason for the shortfall was mostly due to accounting practices implemented in previous year’s budgets.  It is important to note that the current Business Administrator employed was only hired a few months ago and this is the first budget he has worked on.  Although not stated specifically at the meeting last night, I suspect the Board had previously been misguided and current personnel has uncovered errors or is attempting to implement better practices going forward.

I was very impressed by the public attendance at the meeting last night.  Everyone, especially those that spoke during the public session, was attentive, respectful, and genuinely interested in finding a solution to this problem.   There was a call for transparency and accountability…both of which I hope the Board does provide to us as soon as possible.

I was further impressed with the makeup of the crowd.  As expected, there were a large amount of parents with students currently in the school district.  There were many with young children who are new to our schools, and there were nearly as many with children in upper grades and High School.   There were many, like myself, who no longer have school-age children yet continue to show an interest in the future of education for our town.  There was a large amount of teachers from the district in attendance.  Yes, they were there as potential cuts may directly affect their future and livelihood, though it was very apparent to me that they were there primarily because they care about their students…your children and are just as concerned as you are.  I saw several retired teachers in attendance.  There were several of your elected town officials in attendance to see how this will affect the community outside of school and what they may be able to do to help where they can.  There were many Board of Education members in attendance from the previous Boards going all the way back to the 1970’s, further showing how important your child is to every person who has ever served on the Lincoln Park School Board of Education.

I have offered my assistance and any available town resources to the Board to help find solutions that are in the best interest of the entire community.  In my 55 years in Lincoln Park, I have seen issues come up in nearly every aspect of town life which seemed insurmountable at the time and threatened to tear our community apart.  In EVERY one of these instances, not only were solutions found, but our community turned out better and stronger in the end.  I am confident that this will be the case with this as well.  

 Mayor David Runfeldt

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