B-R School District
April 15, 2006
With the entry of Pat Riley into the race for one of two seats on the Bridgewater-Raynham School Committee (Raynham), attention has been brought to the role and position of Paid Volunteer Coordinator. To be clear, this paid position has existed for some time to provide for a volunteer coordinator in Raynham, as part of RAVE.
Pat Riley has said on numerous debate shows that she has resigned. As a B-R School Committee member, and one on the Budget Sub-Committee and also one of the three designated signers of check warrants, I have not seen anything formal about her resignation. (Warrants are the official term for check registers/edits or logs; and they are used for all payables including payroll.) She has further stated that because of this resignation, she does not have any "conflict of interest" issues. From my view, because she has not provided the B-R School District with a letter of resignation, she still has a "conflict of interest". She has stated that a letter was provided to her Board of Directors. Nonsense; if she is a District employee, we are the entity she must address this issue to. Who does she work for? Who pays the check? After telling everyone that there is no "conflict", what if she changes her mind and decides not to provide the written document to the B-R School District?
There are questions about who the position reports to. If it is a B-R check, then that answer is fairly clear, she reports to the Bridgewater-Raynham School District. That does not mean that since B-R Administration and School Committee can attend the RAVE meetings that she is 'dually' responsible.
"Intends to retire in May or June" means exactly what? Intention is not the same thing as an actual act. It is either done or it is not. Further, it has been said several times that Pat Riley will be the next President of RAVE. However, when was that election? Has it happened yet? Perhaps playing a little loose with the facts?
Keep in mind, this paid position has existed for a number of years - including years that all education assistants and many other employees were laid off amid shortened school days. Because of some pre-existing arrangements, her payroll entries were coded to Education Assistants or Special Ed Education Assistants. Her announced resignation has just brought the issue to our attention. This practice is ending.
Yes, the Budget Sub-Committee and the full School Committee did not include funding for this position as defined next school year. A decision has not been made about if and how it may exist. The only thing definite is that if the position is to be in next year's budget, it will clearly be called out in a line item - not buried with Education Assistants. The current elected School Committee has been working very hard to prove to the two communities that the eight members have a good understanding of everything that makes up a $50 million budget. We intend to call it what it is - if some position of volunteer coordinator will exist next year, it will clearly be listed for all to see.
This is not a Bridgewater (since it did not have a paid position) vs. Raynham (since it did) issue. It is an issue of fairness, honesty and integrity. If the District believes it appropriate to fund a paid position, we will do so openly for all to see. We will be honest about the position - not playing a game of semantics. The School Committee has worked diligently over the past year to prove to the communities that they can trust us - from the budget numbers to our goals and objectives.
This is evident in the work on the budget - with a Budget SubCommittee of Don Delutis, Sue O'Brien, Gordon Luciano and Joseph Gillis. It is also evident with the progress made in the ratifications of four union contracts (with changes to 80/20 for new hire HMO's, elimination of Sick Leave Buyback) and for three the acceptance of the Insurance Advisory Commissions recommendations for health plan changes - with a Negotiations SubCommittee of Ursula Garfield, Stephen Donohue, Gordon Luciano and Joseph Gillis.
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