Town of Braintree

quickly, I hope...

I want to make it clear that any additional appropriation any department needs must be approved by Town Meeting.

That includes the school department. The issue with the contract settlement is that the school department is able to fund some of that settlement with their CURRENT level of appropriations (and additional state grant). It is what they need beyond that that they will come to Town meeting to ask for in May ($150,000).

Again, town meeting can say no to the additional appropriations and then the schools would be forced to absorb that portion as well in their current level of appropriation.

I think there is confusion between the contract itself and the appropriations associated with the contract. Town Meeting does not approve the contract itself, but it does approve any additional appropriations requested. Saying no to additional appropriations just means the schools have to find other ways to fund the contract, it does not invalidate the contract.

I am not going to comment here whether it was ''wise'' of them to do what they did. But it is certainly their right to do what they did.

Take care.

-Ted

By Ted Langill

Either Way

we get less service for our tax dollar. As I mentioned before, this ploy by the school committee was purposely crafted to give the teachers raises regardless of Town Meeting's vote and let class sizes take the hit.

To me this is a selfish act by the school committee and they should pay the price for it but becasue of the powers that prop 2 1/2 has given them, they can snub their noses at us and laugh all the way to the bank.



By TMM

Braintree School Budget Analysis

This year's School Budget (FY05) keeps getting posted at $37,480,407 yet the finance committee's book shows additional costs and outside funds increasing that amount to run the schools for this budget year of another $7,438,634. A total budget for this year should reflect $45,858,379. We can add to that sum an additional $700,000 in school building repairs (under the bond issue of $1.4 we voted last Fall) plus an additional $532,300 we included in the funded capital costs voted under Article 5 last Fall and their total budget this year of our dollars amounted to: $47,090,679! Let's be realistic, people.

Our Schools have drained the well almost dry with well over 50% of our available funds we voted this year going to the Schools. Let's at least be candid and use the correct resources sum - $47,090,679. If we have (rounded off) 5000 pupils in our public school system, a per pupil cost to educate our kids amounts to a whopping $9,418.14, not the $6600 used by the school department. Let's analyze these figures further:


In FY95, ten budgets ago, my finance committee books gives the following figures in comparison for that year expended monies: Budget - $26,185,798. Add to that the sum of $4,279,382 of other ''additional town expenditures for shcools (insurance, field maintenance, snow removal, town administrative expenses, medicare/social security, group health, worker's compensation, retirement costs)and that totals $30,465,180 for FY95. Add to that sum the amount of $338,770 for capital monies appropriated in FY95 for school repairs and equipment outlay and the total amounts to $30,803,950. A similar student enrollment of let's say 4800 pupils in FY95 and we get a per pupil cost that year of about $6417/pupil.


We've increased our school budget over the past ten years by $16,286,729 or a per year increase of $1.628million each year for the past ten years. Their budget over the past ten budget years has increased by 53% or again, an annual average of 5.3% each and every year over the past ten years!!!!!

No wonder why we have 23 large school buses and 13 mini school buses in the bus yard on Adams Street. If we bussed 2/3 of our student population to and from school each day at $100/student/school year, we'd raise close to $350,000 each year instead of paying through the budget this cost?
That's one way to save or slice the school budget if they want to pay for this exhorbitant 1 + 3 teacher contract. Charge the kids to ride the bus K-12 @ $100/pupil!


By TMM6

I Understand Lexington Plan

I heard that the new teacher's contract includes a ridiculous brain dead (if true) a Lexington Plan retirement incentive for the teachers. They announce two school years in advance they will be retiring and they will get 10% raises in their pay for each of the last two years they teach? That's 20% on top of their current salary. If the annual teacher's pay is $54,000, and they get a 10% plus 10% for their last two years, they get an additional pay of $11,340 their last two years. When they retire at 80% of their salary based on a new sum of $65,430, their retirement will amount to $52,344 each year they live as a retired teacher. If the Lexington Plan is in fact correct in this contract, that's an additional $9072 each year they get as a retiree. Hmm, giving away the store of us taxpayer's monies is getting out of hand!
I mention this because the Firefighters, I heard, are willing to accept a one year zero percent contract from the Town if the Town will give them The Brockton Plan - 10%, 10%, 10% for their three final years they work as firefighter?
Who's running the shop, taxpayers? We're literally bankrupting Braintree with Quinn Bills (that's proven to be folly on us all), the Lexington Plan or the Brockton Plan.
And this information is supposed to remain confidential and not subject to public scrutiny. Our elected leaders are selling us down the proverbial colon pipe!

Kerry M?—BRAINTREE SCHOOLS TEACHERS RETIREMENT PLAN I Understand Lexington Plan

-BRAINTREE TEACHERS average retirement salary
Is close to 70k before factoring in the ''Lexington Plan'' Last contract, the teachers negotiated another step category Masters+45 that raised the top base pay for the teachers to 71K. My math tells me that these two contracts raised the base pay by over $4200 annually, creating an additional $3300 per year in increased pension costs to the town. And the School Committee says they are looking out for the children.
---average retirement salary-

By Kerry M and TMM