Say what? Someone is donating to a school and the School Committee (Board) turned it down? "I feel a diary coming" I told my husband when I saw this headline yesterday morning on our way out the door, as we drove to meet friends for the day, as we drove back last night, and as I had my coffee this morning.
What was the school committee thinking? The Krapf family has offered to donation $4698 to offset activity fees that have been imposed on band and chorus students ($45 each student per activity) in the school system. They had two stipulations: (1) the money only be used for the music program and (2) the school committe must rescind the fees rather than keeping them on the books and labeling them as covered by a donation.
The school committee said "no thanks". The school committee didn't want to give up their power and rescind their vote. Never mind what helps the students.
More below the fold.
Julia and Alex Krapf are the kind of parents every school is craving. Julia volunteers in the classroom and the lunch room. Alex has served on the school Advisory Council and the Strategic Planning Commission. They have donated funds to the public library, the neighborhood park, and the annual fund-raiser for the public schools. In other words, they are involved in their community and their school. Can't ask for more than that. That's why when they wanted to help offset the rising costs of the FREE education their tax dollars are paying for, they were surprised when their generous offer was refused.
See the Boston Globe article here.
According to School Committee chairman Chad Koski, it was the second condition the committee couldn't stomach.
"Our problem was with the second stipulation, the one requiring that we rescind the vote we had already taken on instituting the fees for the music program. We don't want to set a precedent whereby a School Committee vote can be overruled by donations from private citizens - creating, in effect, the semblance that a School Committee decision can be bought."
God forbid they give up our power of being the "deciders" and re-evaluate their decisions. The Krapf's were wanting to force them to make a new decision next year, rather than keep it on the books and allow a new fee for something else to be added next year.
"We put that second condition on because the way the fees have been handled in the past is that, come budget time, they look at what fees we are already being levied, and those are automatically reapplied," he said. "They start with the existing base and then think about adding or increasing new fees. We didn't want the music fee appearing on the catalog of fees because we wanted to ensure that it would have to be considered anew, and not as an already existing fee, next year."
A similar situation happened in Wellesley a few years ago when a group of parents raised $250,000 to have the foreign languages program be reinstated. That money was also refused. According the Glenn Koocher, executive director of the MAssachusetts Association of School Committees,
"There, too, the School Committee turned down the donation, for the reason that it can't be in the position of allowing people to pay for public policy,"
In other words, we can't allow the people to determine what the people want. So, not only do we not get to decide how our tax dollars are spent, we don't get to raise money to supplement the lack of funding our schools are receiving. We don't get to boost the failing public education system by providing the funding necessary to help our kids get ahead. Sounds to me like we need to rethink who is making those decisions at the school committee level and get some folks in there who give a damn about the kids education and less about how their thoughtful consideration of the issues will make them appear weak.
In a time when schools are desperate for input and participation how can they justify this smack in the face and expect anyone with a new idea to step forward for the fear they will be wasting their time?
Koocher continues to say the school committees have the "right" to turn down these gifts. They may have the right, but is it right to do so? He continues that school financing is a complicated business and they have to be careful because they don't know what will come next. Like,
"Also, what about those programs that do not receive special support from generous parents? Why should the music program be supported by a donation while the hockey team or the dance department gets shut down?"
Oh, I don't know. Maybe if they show a willingness to work with people and people see progress is being made, maybe someone will do a fund drive for the dance or hockey program. Right now, with this attitude, they got nothin'.