DOLLAR DAZE IV - SURE, LPS WANTS PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Not only is the DIRECTOR of the PARENT INFORMATION CENTER only a PART-TIME position (since the current one also heads the TRANSPORTATION department) but they are actually losing a position (STUDENT ASSIGNMENT MANAGER) resulting in a reduction of about $80,000 in that part of the budget.

Tell me how you can complain about the influx of new students and the lack of parental involvement and at the same time complain about it.

Mell maybe you can cause they do!

LOOKING THROUGH A PORTHOLE

Telling your truth that amounts to a lie

Cause having prior knowledge is hard to deny.

For the sake of optics you mislead

Saying things you shouldn't said.

Promises made know to be untrue

Since cancellation did not come out of the blue.

For acceptance no doubt you were driven,

All in hopes your misrepresentation would be forgiven.

WHO'S TEACHING YOU?

ESSENTIAL WATCH WEAR

DOLLAR DAZE IV - A RACE THAT NEVER ENDS

Well the RACE TO THE TOP is over, I mean they money has dried up. Not too many carrots of funding to dangle in front of us. Funny though the position to oversee it is still on the payroll nestled on the CURRICULUM page is the PROGRAM SPECIALIST for the RTTP at $87,000 is paid by us since the GRANT'S gone. And that is how the budget grows.

DOLLAR DAZE IV - AN INSURANCE POLICY FOR POLITENESS

Funny thing about budgets, they can hide about anything anywhere. Sometimes to me it just seems there' no RHYME nor REASON. And I ought to know being a poet and all.

You see there is this line on the SUPERINTENDENT'S page for NEWSLETTERS. Now at first I thought it was for subscriptions but then I figure you can get a TV Guide or Ladies Home Journal a heck of a lot cheaper than the $30,000 they had budgeted for last year.

Then it hit me, I bet that's where they pay for the

   Download the 2015 Winter Lynn Educator


Yeah, isn't that the one produced by the parent company of the ITEM? Strange bedfellows mind you but even stranger is the $18,000 increase this year. That works out to be about a 60% increase. Now remember I am not good at MATH but clearly someone is.

Perhaps this line should have been on the page where they put the other insurance expenses.

DOLLAR DAZE IV - MISDIRECTED MEETINGS

Another Fourth of July
And our budget is in peril..

Want to know why?
NSS has us over a barrel.

Preaching to the choir
So someone will listen

Will get you consumed by the fire
Over what you've been missing!

THE SCIENCE OF BUDGET CUTS!

WE'LL ELIMINATE THOSE WEAPONS OF MASS INSTRUCTION!

THE MAYOR'S SCHOOL SPENDING

DOLLAR DAZE IV - ACCOUNTING ALCHEMY

From all I've heard from multiple sources, see some people do like to talk to me they just don't want to be seen with me, KNOWATOM is dead despite some impressive MCAS gains in the Science portion. I would suggest the critical thinking skills learned in the intensive STEM presentations are responsible for gains in other areas. As I am sure those people with all those fancy degrees know, you have to learn how to learn.

Well I have heard KNOWATOM is just too expensive for LPS. Okay......well then explain to me why on the line for ELEMENTARY SCIENCE is the same as last year? What's up with that? Is that the cost of Asst. Director of Curriculum's much anticipated POWERPOINT replacement of KNOWATOM? Or is it just some vague SCIENCE SLUSH FUND.

DOLLAR DAZE IV - SPED SALARY SALARY SYMPTOMS OF A SHAKE-UP (OR MAYBE DOWN)

Combine the fact that according to item IX, A1 on the last LSC meeting Agenda the retiring DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL ED amended her retirement date by extending it two months, rumours I've been hearing, and there is no specific position on the SPED page for a leadership position, just $251,000 for two positions lumped under the vague label of ADMINISTRATION SALARY.

BY THE WAY, THAT'S A $14,000 INCREASE OVER LAST YEAR.

DO YOU SMELL THE MONKEY?

FRUGALITY HAS A FACE

ABOUT THAT NEW SCHOOL...

DROP ME A LETTER SOME TIME

NET SCHOOL SPENDING DEBT

Stanley Wotring <lynn.school.watch@gmail.com>	10:28 PM (9 hours ago)
to jcerulli, Donna, Charlie, john.e.ford, Rick, patti7761, Maria

Dear Mayor Kennedy,

At last Thursday night's Lynn School Committee hearing you promised LSC 

member Donna Coppola that CFO Caron would report on the current status of 

Lynn's NSS situation to assure them that we are not in any impending danger 

for not having worked out a repayment plan that the DESE can sign off on by 

June 30th of this fiscal year. Since we will not be having any scheduled open 

meetings until the July 16th Special Meeting of the Whole I am hereby requesting 

that you or your designee contact me in writing regarding this matter.

Due to the millions of dollars involved, I am sure you can appreciate my concerns 

for the fiscal well being of our city. I look forward to hearing from you for not only my 

personal peace of mind but also to ease the concerns of my many readers. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Stan

A COMEDY OF CRISES

Mayor, council conduct civics lesson

Actually what they needed to conduct was an ECONOMICS lesson. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE SAID WAS LEARN AN ECONOMICS LESSON. 

Well class is about to begin. Why would the MSBA sign off on funding another school anytime soon at 80% when LYNN already owes about $16 MILLION DOLLARS? Don't forget that 80% for MARSHALL turned out to be closer to 50% after we started taking ALLOWABLE costs into consideration.

Then if by some miracle the MIRACLE the MSBA decided to overlook LYNN'S chronic underfunding of the schools any hopes of attaining the coveted 80% level may just be a PIPELINE dream. Remember the recalculation of need where LYNN looked a lot better?

How can the MAYOR say as she did in her STATE OF THE CITY address that things are looking up and we are having all these "positive" developments and at the same time go to the MSBA crying the poor Me's? SERIOUSLY?

And if the CITY fails to secure the funding  (whatever amount it is) then all bets are off and you can KISS the $750,000 for the feasibility study good-bye. Heck, I'll tell you it's not feasible for FREE. No one disagrees that we have a problem and PICKERING'S problems have been well documented but are the TAXPAYERS of LYNN going to approve another $100 MILLION DOLLAR bond when the doors haven't opened yet for the last debt they signed on to?

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

On the sixteenth of July
A hard sell he will try

to do his best to explain why
On this, LPS will just have to get by.

Forget dreams of a hundred percent
You'll have to work with what is sent.

Doesn't matter in the law what is meant,
I'm here today to tell you to "GET BENDT!".

MEETING MADNESS - JULY 16 AT 6:00PM

Can't wait hear CARON
Testify without swearin'

That it's the truth he does tell
Cause this budget's a hard sell.

He'll have to defend
Why so short the MAYOR does send.

Granted there's no money to be had
Because of past practices had.

Thanks for the good ole days
When money was found for your raise!

WHO YOU GONNA CALL? MYTHBUSTERS

Mayor states her city’s case

After seeing me for two nights in a row, during a break between the PUBLIC HEARING and the LSC, JUDY asked me if I was coming down for this speech. It was nice of her to ask but really I'm not the type to pay to kick people in the teeth. Plus I would have had to get a ride.

No I am sure, she breathed a little sigh of relief when she heard that. Now she knew things would be smooth and the ITEM would be handling the SPIN. Got to keep those advertisers and any potential PR clients happy. Well I can't help but comment on a few things like:

THE NEW MATH

Moving onto other issues, Kennedy told the chamber that she’s just submitted her fifth straightBALANCED budget, and said the city is on solid financial ground.

 How can she say that with a straight face with the NSS crisis hanging over the city. We owe the state some $16 million dollars and she is playing financial chicken with the STATE. Betting on us being so bad the STATE won't come after us. She seems to be thumbing her nose at the DESE by ignoring their offers to help.

Instead making a meeting with the LT. GOV. to plead her case. She has to know the LT. GOV. can offer no real help. All this will do is to to try and make a stronger case for EDUCATION PRIVATIZATION. Let's let someone else pay he bill.

PIPELINE DREAMS

“After Marshall, we are slated to begin advocating for (a new) Pickering.”

Last Tuesday the CITY COUNCIL just approved spending $750,000 on a feasibility study. I know how this works. It is a necessary first step to go after MSBA money. The only thing is that like the MAYOR points out it doesn't count toward resolving the NSS problem. I agree it may be unfair but that's the world we live in and crying bout it doesn't change anything.

The saddest thing is it's good money after bad because you don't get it back if you can't come up with the funding. A vote from the citizens of LYNN would have to be taken for another $100 MILLION DOLLAR bond. Oh yeah, no increase in taxes.

All of this so we can get 80% reimbursement that is really probably closer to 50% thanks to the ALLOWABLE COSTS phrase. There are a couple of things that make matters worse though. How likely do you think the MSBA is going to give us more money when we have been so fiscally irresponsible with what we got? On top of that with the new formula for figuring up need, I wonder if we'll still qualify for the (NOT REALLY)80% level of reimbursement?

PAST BLAST

Thursday, April 3, 2014

KEEP CLASHING YOU TITANS

LIL'LORI'S response to a response:

Lori DAmicoApril 2, 2014 at 8:23 PM

Clearly Mr. Caron is on the defensive, especially on the Mayor's behalf. My original email did not contain any of the accusations he mentioned in his response. I did not attempt to assign blame on the Mayor, or anyone else, I merely asked a valid question, which no one has been able or willing to answer, including Mr. Caron. I did not state or even imply that the Mayor or anyone else had any prior knowledge that the school department wasINCORRECTLY including these costs and I did not make any inference that anyone involved in this issue acted with deliberate intent to shortchange the school children of Lynn. These were all Mr. Caron's own words and statements, not mine. This is the original email I sent, which Mr. Caron is responding to:

Good Morning,

After listening to your response to the net school spending issue, I still have the same question I have had from theBEGINNING and I am hoping you, or anyone else included in this email, can provide me with a simple, straight forward answer.

As we all know, the restriction on not counting retired teachers health insurance costs is well-documented and publicized. It is specifically mentioned in Section 3 of the annual state budget and it is noted on the EOY Financial Reports. It is also highlighted each year at the summer EOY report workshops forBUSINESS ADMINISTRATORS, and it is mentioned on the DESE website. Therefore, the restriction is not, or at least should not have been a surprise to any of you. You have been Mayor for 4 years, but the audit only went back I believe 2 or 3 years. Therefore, the almost $16 million shortfall is from your time as Mayor. If this is not correct, please let me know. Knowing the restriction existed, why did Lynn include these costs toward net school spending for the past few years?

I did not hear you give an answer to this simple question during last night's meeting. I heard you state in detail what costs could and could not be counted toward net school spending, as well as your personal feelings and opinion on the way the state does things. I heard you state that the reason the city has this almost $16 million shortfall was because of a box that was or was not checked on a formSUBMITTED 20 years ago. However, this is not really true. We are not facing this shortfall because of a form that was submitted 20 years ago. We are facing this shortfall because the city included these costs toward net school spending (fully aware of the restriction) for the past few years. I just don't understand how or why city and/or school officials simply ignored this restriction for the past few years and did not do any research to find out if Lynn did in fact include these costs in FY 94 as the restriction states. If they had, we would not be facing this issue, correct? So again, why did the city include these costs toward net school spending for the past few years?

THANKyou

Lori D'Amico