Dear Croydon Voters,
I would like to thank each and every one of you who supported my candidacy for the Croydon School Board. The 17 votes I received was significant for a little-known write-in candidate. This figure was woefully short of the 60 votes delivered to sitting board member George Caccavaro. This was a hotly contested election, due in no small part to the PTO's unfavorable response to my calls for fiscal responsibility.
I wish George the best, and hope that he has the courage to champion the changes needed to control spending and place the interests of Croydon citizens first.
There is much to do, and I plan to continue working with the citizens committee developing long term plans for the District. Our greatest opportunity lies with the Newport agreement due to expire in mid-2010. During my involvement in school district matters, parents have consistently expressed concern for various aspects of this agreement, and of the services provided by Newport School District.
The departure of Sunapee from the SAU caused Newport to scale back its SAU administrative operations. Unfortunately, they failed to scale back in proportion to the loss of revenue from Sunapee. As a result, the spending in the SAU bureaucracy per property dollar will rise dramatically. This can be seen in the "SAU Services" line item of the Croydon budget. This item alone is budgeted to increase 81.5% this year! Double-digit spending increases on non-educational services is unacceptable and a direct consequence of the terms of our association with Newport School District.
Together, we can restore community control of education and operate our schools in a manner that best serves our community, not the special interests. I look forward to working with members of our community today and in the future.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at 863-7613 or by email at jimpeschke@joltmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment