News and Views

Proposed Municipal Budget of Bow

Budget Analysis

In the aftermath of last year’s budget cuts when selectmen turned off 222 street lights in Bow, voters are now faced with a proposed budget that’s up about $602,000 from last year.

This year’s warrant articles go to voters at the Bow Town Meeting Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m., at Bow High School.

The warrants, discussed at a Wednesday, April 9, public hearing held by the Budget Committee, will include 30 articles.

Voters will see two recommended operating budgets, one from the Board of Selectmen and the other from the Budget Committee, with a difference of $15,000. Selectmen recommended, by a 3-2 vote, to support an $8,332,912 budget, while the Budget Committee’s recommended budget, by a 4-3 vote, is $8,317,912.

During last year’s Town Meeting, selectmen came prepared with a budget of nearly $8.2 million, but then newly elected Selectman Tom Keane proposed to cut the budget to $7.7 million, an amendment that passed voter approval 114-89.

At the April 9 public hearing, Budget Committee Chairman Dan de Vasto told the 40 residents in attendance about the situation the town faces.

“Everyone is cognizant of keeping things down and not cutting our throats in the process,” said de Vasto. “Some think we can spend more, some think we can spend less. We try to find a happy medium.”

A large portion of the crowd at the public hearing were members of the Fire Department, as five of the warrant articles to be voted on at Town Meeting involve fire and rescue.

The Fire Department is proposing the purchase of a pumper truck, which will have no tax impact as the money will be taken from a capital reserve fund, if the article is approved.

In addition, voters will be asked to put $160,000 in the fire truck capital reserve fund and purchase a new fire truck to replace one that has been in use since 1984.

The purchase of self-contained breathing apparatuses will depend on whether the article is approved because the latter asks voters to put $60,000 into a capital reserve fund used for rescue equipment.

In addition to the self-contained breathing equipment that would be purchased if approved, residents will be asked to allow the Police Department to purchase a $32,000 special utility vehicle, using the remainder of the rescue equipment fund.

“I think it’s very important for voters to support these articles. It’s for their protection. We’ve maintained the equipment for years now, and it’s simply time for new equipment,” said Bow Fire Chief Dana Abbott.

Other than the operating budget, the item with the biggest tax impact will be $365,000 for road paving, an item that will mean a 31 cent tax increase per $1,000 assessed property valuation.

If approved, the proposed operating budget would have a $3.99 increase on the town rate per $1,000 assessed property valuation. That means the owner of a $300,000 home would see an increase of about $1,197 over last year.

If the 10 warrant articles with tax impact are approved, that same owner would pay an additional $1,467 in taxes. De Vasto said after seeing the action at last year’s meeting, he hopes to see a larger crowd at the May 14 Town Meeting.

“I’m only hoping that based on last year’s activities, more voters will come and express their opinions on things,” he said. “There’s a philosophy of a large number of people who feel there should be no increase at all. Using that as a yard stick to measure, most of these things will be controversial to some people.”

Source: Bow Times

Bow holds off diploma program
International courses stir local discontent
April 07, 2008 - 12:00 am

The Bow School District will suspend its application to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, after consideration of the program outraged a segment of the community.

“There’s enough disarray in the community perception of IB that I think we need more time for us to pursue it together, in a more collaborative way,” said School Board Chairwoman Pansy Bloomfield.

IB is a Switzerland-based program administered in 126 countries. If it were implemented in Bow, advanced students in their junior and senior years in high school would be able to take high-level courses and complete IB tests at the end of each one, in addition to filling several other requirements. They would then graduate with both an IB diploma and a regular high school diploma.

School officials had already submitted the first part of the application to make Bow High School an official candidate school. But it had not yet completed the second part, which included writing curriculum and preparing to implement the program.

Recently, IB has drawn criticism from community members who called it unnecessary and a waste of tax dollars. Some said the school should focus on enhancing its Advanced Placement classes instead and should not become beholden to an outside agency. The goal of the program is to understand subjects across cultures and disciplines, and it has also drawn criticism from at least one national organization that called it “un-American.”

At a Thursday night school board meeting that went until after midnight, the board voted 3-2 to hold off on the second part of the application. Superintendent Dean Cascadden said the district is still considering IB but wants to allow for more study and more communication with the community.

“There hasn’t been the communication, the community engagement that’s really needed to launch a program like this,” Cascadden said. “Let’s step back and get the information out, get the community to give feedback and make a decision later on whether this program’s a go or a no.”

Yesterday, Cindy Martin, a parent and Bow budget committee member who, speaking as an individual, opposed the program, said she was happy with the vote.

“I am very pleased that the townspeople did their homework and it seems, for one reason or another, understand the ramifications the IB program could mean to the taxpayers and the children of Bow,” she said.

Martin previously said that she opposed spending money on a new program, particularly one benefiting only a limited number of students, when local taxes were already rising.

At its meeting tonight, the budget committee is expected to vote on whether it would support funding the IB program.

Although the school board vote does not necessarily mean the end of the program for Bow, it does mean a delay. Previously, school officials had hoped that this year’s freshman class would be the first to participate in the program as juniors. Now, Cascadden said, even if the board eventually goes ahead with IB, it would not be ready by September 2009.

Cascadden said the deciding factor was hearing from many of the approximately 35 people who showed up at Thursday’s meeting. Although he said there was a wide range of opinions, there was enough concern by “reasonable, rational” people that the board felt the community did not adequately support the program.

The board cut $8,300 from the budget for IB, but still left $10,700 to allow for further study and professional development. The board will still hold a scheduled information meeting on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the high school.

“The board’s not of the mind to say IB’s gone, we’re never going to deal with it,” Bloomfield said. “We need some time, we need to talk about it in a different way, we need more information we can share with the community.”

The discussion of IB came up as part of a larger discussion of how to cut approximately $150,000 from the budget, as was voted on at the annual meeting.

Cuts that were approved include reducing a program assistant position and extra time for aides, cutting the field hockey B team at the middle school, the winter spirit program and the gymnastics program, eliminating three out of eight Destination Imagination coaches, and not creating a new position for a part-time assistant special education director.

There was also discussion about cutting back the school’s career program, which the board ultimately decided to support.

Source: Concord Monitor

To Mr. Paul Revere and the Bow Citizens Coalition,

FACT: The Bow High School teaching staff currently has 12 members with MA +30 years experience, 5 with MA +15 years experience, 26 with MA + some years experience, 4 with BA +30 years experience, 5 with BA +15 years experience, 13 with BA+ some years experience, a Principal and Assistant Principal with at least an MA + some years experience each I would guess and a Superintendent with a PhD + some years experience. That makes a total of 68 educators (of 100 +/- total staff at BHS) for 617 students which is roughly 9 students per educator.

FACT & QUESTION: Why can’t these 68 educators with their credentials and levels of experience that are also very well paid, I might add, to the tune of $4.8 million plus in wages and benefits (68 educators for $3,387,555 in wages & $1,364,146 in benefits) budgeted annually for Bow High School, develop a program to challenge all our students (and to supplement the current AP program for our brightest students) at Bow High School? That could/should be “the best thing since sliced bread” and a “slam dunk” all in one for the taxpayers and students I would think?

QUESTION: Why is it necessary to spend all this additional money outside of Bow on an IB Programme to challenge our students globally when we supposedly have all this expertise right here in Bow, NH USA already? This really makes you wonder if we are currently getting our money’s worth from our tax dollars if our educators cannot currently challenge our students?

QUESTION: What is this IB Programme really costing us, not just the obvious cost which they frequently refer to but all the incidental hidden costs like substitute teachers to cover the ones that go out for training for example? Do our current students learn or benefit from these substitute teachers, confusion and lost time in the classroom while our paid educators gallivant around the country being trained in this IB Programme??

QUESTION: Why are we currently focusing on the application process to this IB Programme of progressivism, beliefs, values & theory of a global society and not on the basics of knowledge like reading, writing, English language, geography, math, science and American History? Why isn’t a rigorous curriculum of education already in place in Bow High School?

QUESTION: How do the teachers at the BES and BMS feel about having most all the money budgeted for “professional development” in the school district being gobbled up by the travel and training expense involved with the Bow High School IB Programme and application process? Does this jeopardize or affect the education of these younger students?

QUESTION: How does an IB Programme like this challenge our bright students in the multiple tier level classroom system now in place at Bow High School where you have varying degrees of learner abilities in the same classroom? Will this IB Programme just add more confusion? Why aren’t we challenging all our students at all levels?

MY OPINION: All Bow students need to have a solid well rounded academic/knowledge based education and that is what the taxpayer is responsible for supporting with their tax dollars, not this global fluff.

MY OPINION: Stop this IB Programme nonsense!

Rick Hiland
Bow

Here is the letter written to ‘all staff’ by the School Board Chair Pansey Bloomfield of Bow (and sent from the Superintendent’s email) after facing opposition to the IB Programme.

Letter From Dean Cascadden - April 4, 2008

Bow school cuts in the works, IB to stay
Bow Times
By Matt Schooley

Bow school administrators are working to make the cuts approved by voters at the School District Meeting.

They are expecting to bring a proposal to the School Board at a Thursday, April 3, meeting.

During the March 14 meeting, voters approved the Budget Committee’s proposal of $24.8 million, about $152,000 less than the School Board’s proposed budget.

Superintendent of Schools Dean Cascadden said the cuts will need to come from areas that will not have a negative effect on the district.

“I understand that in these economic times, people are conscious of growing school budgets,” said Cascadden. ”We will do what makes sense to reach that cut. You want to make decisions on what will least impact kids, and least impact the academics for kids.”

Bow business administrator Duane Ford said school officials want to create a list that will equal more than the total cuts to give the board different items to choose from.

“What we’re going to need to do is meet with administration, and each building is going to bring their own ideas. We won’t just get things that add up to 152,000, but get some other things we can put out there that we are able to talk about,” he said.

Cascadden also said he plans to accumulate a list of more than the $152,000 before the board decides on the actual cuts.

“I like to bring the thinking forward, so we may have to present more than just the cuts to make sure they reflect the board’s priorities as well,” he said. “I told the staff that if you want to defend something, that’s fine, but we also need to make cuts.”

According to Cascadden, there is a variety of criteria contributing to the decision of what areas will take hits.

“The first thing you’re going to look at is anything new, and there are some special education and custodial positions that we’ll look at,” he said. “We also have to look at programs that are new. We have to say (to the staff), ‘come with your ideas and we’ll we see what kind of things we can come up with.”

Ford said the administration looks at non-mandated programs as well as one-time-only areas such as equipment.

Cascadden said he does not plan to pull out of the International Baccalaureate program as a way to trim the budget.

“We are moving forward with the application with the intent that we want to implicate it. How do you ask people to do all this work and then say we’re not going to do it?,” said Cascadden. “The board will listen to the input from the community, and if we get accepted we’ll listen to that and see. I’m committed to seeing it through, but that could be an area the board looks to cut.”

The Thursday, April 3, School Board meeting will take place beginning at 7 p.m., at the music room at Bow Memorial School.

Bow High doesn’t need new program
Brad Hutton, Bow
LTE, Concord Monitor

Re “School considers elite program” (Monitor Local & State page, March 27):

This is not the time to be introducing any new agenda, especially one that has no set cost. If there are students who don’t feel sufficiently challenged at Bow High School, why don’t their parents consider a private school? It is not up to the taxpayers to underwrite advanced education. That’s why post-high school education is offered. I am not against education. There is a time, however, when a line must be drawn. That time is now, before spending taxpayers’ dollars.

Bow teachers are handsomely paid. They have guaranteed step pay increases. Perhaps those teachers at the high school level would be willing to come forward and personally challenge the handful of un-stimulated students at no additional cost to the town. Challenging these students could also begin at home. Is not the Advanced Placement Program sufficient? There are choices other than the proposed International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. Think about simple, no-additional-cost options. The faculty at Bow High School is talented enough to do so.