Amanda Brown has figured out that if she wants to have influence over the BOE, she needs to have a seat at the table. The 2005-2007 attempted the joint meeting of the BET, BOE and council, but due to the mysterious vagaries of scheduling conflicts (Corda) they never got off the ground. So Brown figures on creating an ordinance to formulate a special joint committee.
Interesting idea. But with the balance of the BOE shifting back towards common sense with common purpose, the obstacles of the past may not be present. The Hour got qutoes from the usual suspects on the idea, the recap:
There’s news up in them dar hills. The finance committee of the BOE met last night to discuss the imminent departure of Stuart Opdhal. The meeting was reported in the Hour. I say, day three of good governance. But what is Corda thinking? Before Opdhal resigned it was the battle of the OK corral, high noon– Corda defending against hiring a finance director and the reformist BOE-ers exercising that great equalizer of Dr. Check and Mr. Balance.
Must have been a construction committee meeting recently because we find more on the construction pace at Norwalk High School in the Hour.
On Wednesday night, Shamas updated members of the Norwalk Facilities Construction Commission on where the renovation stands and where it’s headed. The project, now underway for nearly two years, is slated for completion this August.
At present, contractors are wrapping up Phase 7 of the nine-phase renovation. Phase 7 entails the second floor of A House, which is home to mathematics and special education. On April 11, work will proceed to first-floor B House, which will be home to social studies, Shamas said.
The Hour is reporting that the BET set the cap of an increase to 4% for the BOE. Corda thinks that this is a $1.9 million decrease.
“At this point, we are just beginning to examine refinements, and I have to tell you that I am not optimistic that refinements will be where we find all the money,” Corda said.
There are costs tied to the budget that historically rise each year, such as insurance or debt service costs for construction. These costs are not tied to a program but are incidentals for running an operation such as a school district, Corda said.
For one, I’m totally ecstatic that Opdahl has resigned. But then I see things like this in today’s Advocate:
Opdahl said he planned to leave before the end of the school year, and he wants to work out a deal in which he can help take care of any loose ends.
Oh yeah, here’s a loose end that I’d like to see taken care of. A forensic audit of the construction projects and a forensic audit of operating budgets and any contracts signed by Opdahl. Since Opdahl wsa notorious for not documenting routine things, like travel expenses, I’d just like a line item list of all reas where a lack of documentation exists. Let’s start with the kitchen equipment that sits unused. Who authroized the pruchase, when was it paid out, and what equipment does the school district actaully have.
Last Thursday, the budget committee of the BOE met to discuss a variety of topics. One of which was the presentation by Ominigroup, a company that does essentialy paperwork required by the IRS for public school districts’ 403(b), 457(b), and 401(a) programs.
If you are familiar with the ubiquitos 401k, then these plans are essentially similar. They exist so that public education organizations get the tax treatment extremely similar to a 401(k) plan. Money that goes into a 403(b) plan are made before income tax is paid on it, and allowed to grow tax deferred until the money is taxed as income when taken out of the plan. Which brings us to why the 403b was created. Historically teachers could only invest in TSA’s (Tax Sheltered Annuities) and the 403b introduced the ability to purchase mutual funds instead.
S’okay, we know that students need to be more competitive in the math and sciences, so naturally getting rid of an AP chemistry teacher is a high priority. Knowing nothing whatsoever of the details, and apparently so was the BOE, they moved to table the item. Smart move. Dig in BOE members and find out what’s really going on over in absentee principal land. Now let’s go the video tape and insert the usual calls for Stuart Opdhal and Bruce Morris to be fired.
When we last looked in on the BOE and the amazing out of control constructions costs, there was rumbling in the BOE that $6 million wasn’t just going to be transferred, without explantion or detail, as per Opdahl’s request, and that the planning commission wasn’t buying the cpatial requests put forward. The latter is a good thing, since the BOE was split on the cpaital request budget. So, we get this report from The Hour:
