We’ve Heard That Same Old Same Old Before
My husband and I have lived in Reading for 19 years and graduated 3 children from the high school. Year after year, we have seen and heard a lot about the school department never having enough money to manage their budget within the 3½ percent annual increases.
The Town’s financial issues are mostly due to increasing costs of employee insurance and benefits. Since fiscal year 2001, the school department has hired over 110 additional full time personnel to educate the same number of students. While the salaries for these school employees are paid out of the school department budget, the insurance/benefit costs are paid by the Town side. Wouldn’t it make sense for the school department, who already gets 2/3 of the Town’s budget, to curb hiring additional personnel since they have the most employees?
Over the past 16 years, the Town has taken on debt for three school building projects at the same time costing over $80M: the Barrows renovation, new Wood End Elementary and new high school. Under school committee oversight, the three projects went $10M over budget. We spent millions tearing down a larger (by 26 classrooms), structurally sound high school to build a new, smaller one with one less gym and a cafeteria now requiring meals served in shifts.
Only the high school was done through debt exclusion and, when it is paid off in 8 years, our taxes for that project will go down. However, the new Wood End and Barrows renovation projects are being paid out of the town’s operating budget in the capital plan. Where was the oversight for that? When those three projects are paid off, the town and schools will have more funds available in their operating budgets but it will take 8 more years.
Taxpayers have given and given and it is never enough. Along with the $80M in school projects, Reading taxpayers now pay higher water rates under MWRA than with our own wells. Taxpayers just paid $1.5M for 6 new portables to house the school department’s for-pay all day kindergarten program. For 15 more years, taxpayers also will be paying for the palatial library renovation. And a costly $6M legal settlement with the high school contractor is still unresolved.
Looming in our future are millions more to renovate Killam elementary school. Back in 2000, some of us believed Killam should have been renovated earlier instead of building a new elementary school at Wood End that was justified by fabricated enrollment projections. Also on the horizon is at least $18M in costs associated with DPW and Cemetery needs.
Do not fear our houses will go down in value if we don’t get a $7.5M override. There will be a teacher in every classroom even if they have to reduce 30 positions out of the 110+ they hired over the last 15 years for the same number of students. The sky will not fall if they have to increase high school class sizes from the 22 average they now have and maybe cancel a few electives to keep elementary classes at Reading standards.
Before considering adding $764 to $1,000 more in your annual tax bill FOREVER, consider what else is on the table: 8 more years of school debt, 15 years for library debt, Killam debt and cemetery debt. There is a limit on what taxpayers can afford. Ignore the school department’s emotional pleas and threats of how devastating it will be if we don’t give them what they want again. It’s time for them to manage with what they have like we do. An override is forever, it’s as simple as that.
Linda Phillips
Town Meeting Member
