September 20, 2007
Last night's Bridgewater-Raynham School Committee Meeting had Bridgewater Selectmen Chris Flynn present a letter from the Bridgewater Selectmen {click here for the letter} requesting that B-R give back to Bridgewater $500,000. The School Committee discussed some of the issues related to this: (a) a $500,000 gift to Bridgewater would require a simlilar gift of about $300,000 to Raynham; (b) there is not $800,000 in free available cash sitting around; (c) the School District is not sitting on any land that could suddenly be sold to raise 500k. Therefore, by unanimous vote, the request was turned down.
To answer questions about efforts to save money, B-R has (a) made insurance changes and is now having the Open Enrollment Fair to effect the plan changes; (b) this year saw an expansion of our School Choice Program with many more student choosing B-R schools; (c) the School Committee has setled past and future contracts with reasonable {for example teachers with 2.5% increases vs. Town raises of 3.5%} increases.
Any savings derived will be used to offset the School District's use of one-time cash -- the allocation of E&D (excess and deficiency) Funds. This is simply sound and prudent financial planning for now and the future.
Lastly, it is kind of ironic that a Bridgewater Selectmen speaks before the B-R School Committee for over an hour to explain his positions. Perhaps someday the Bridgewater Selectmen will allow more and better discussions! :-)
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Joseph Gillis Jr.
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