Borough assembly, school board at odds

May 2, 2006

By DARRELL L. BREESE/Frontiersman

PALMER - Mayor Tim Anderson may have described the present rift between the Mat-Su Borough Assembly and the Mat-Su School Board best when he referred to it as the budget game.

At the heart of the division is an increase to $40 million from the $38 million initially requested by the school board for its 2007 budget, and the pending layoffs of a couple hundred school custodians.

&#8220It's unfortunate that there is a tone of non-cooperation at these meetings with the school board,” Anderson said Tuesday after an assembly work session reviewing the changes to the school budget.

&#8220We play this game every year with them when it comes to budget time,” Anderson continued. &#8220Normally it's sports, but this year it seems that the Classified Employees Association workers are the pawns being used by them.”

Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle disagreed.

&#8220It's a money-saving measure,” Doyle said before reluctantly offering an estimate of the total savings expected. &#8220It should be about $470,000, but that is just an educated guess.”

The increase in the proposed budget, combined with the pending lay offs also troubled assembly member Betty Vehrs.

&#8220The people I talk to are having a tough time grasping how the school board can lay off so many workers, while at the same time approving a raise for the administration,” Vehrs said.

&#8220It seems to me that the school board is trying to balance the budget on the shoulders of the CEA workers,” Anderson said. &#8220That doesn't seem fair to me.”

Michael Gorup, an 18-year employee with the CEA and the school district, agreed with the mayor.

&#8220I'm two years from retirement, and I'm being told see you later,” Gorup said. &#8220The school district is basically asking us to bear the entire weight of the tighter budget.”

School board member Bob Wells objected to the accusations, adding that the board has worked hard to develop a budget that was fair.

&#8220We began this budget process back in November, facing an increase in the number of students,” Wells said. &#8220Yet we managed to produce a budget with a minimal increase over last year. But that little bit doesn't do enough to address the increased needs we're facing.”

The request for the additional $2 million also puzzled Anderson, since the school board had not designated the money to fund any specific item.

Doyle said the board identified four items that were unfunded in the initial $38 million proposal. Those items were included in the new request, but were not guaranteed. Those items are stipends for elementary and middle school co-curricular activities, and the restoration of eight teacher positions and academic department heads in the area high schools.

&#8220The proposed budget is currently at the max allowed under the tax cap,” borough manager John Duffy said. &#8220If the extra $2 million were to be approved, it would have to be taken from some other part of the borough budget.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@ frontiersman.com