November 23, 2009

Dear neighbors,

The chill in the air is doubly cold inside the finance committee on the School Board these days. We don’t have exact numbers yet, but we do know that this will be a very tough year, as our health care and mandated special education expenses are going up at the same time that our revenues are going down. We will also begin to shoulder the debt service on our desperately-needed facilities renovation bonds next year -- all of which means that we will need to make some difficult choices in the weeks ahead.

As we decide what budget to bring forward at our public hearings next month, and on Town Meeting Day, I believe we will need to guide our efforts in keeping with three core values: 1. Adults should shoulder the burden of budget cuts – not kids; 2. Every effort should be made not to add to the rolls of the unemployed; and 3. Burlington taxpayers should not be asked to absorb a large budget increase. Inevitably, goals 1 and 2 will have to be balanced against goal 3.

We are thinking outside the box in a variety of ways right now to lessen the impact of this tough year on our kids and taxpayers. One is our innovative 20/20 veteran educator separation plan, recently featured on WCAX. The plan offers our valued veterans up to 20 percent of their pay on top of State teacher retirement benefits, in exchange for up to 20 days per year of work for the District during the next three years. That work may include curriculum design, substitute teaching, or mentoring a new teacher. We hope that some of our highest-paid teachers and administrators will view this as a great opportunity to contribute their valuable skills and knowledge while easing into their next phase of work or retirement, and we also hope that it will help us avoid layoffs of our newer employees who contractually would be the “last in, first out.” Our Superintendent and administrators have also been working building-by-building to look for savings – ways of doing more with less for the foreseeable future. Unlike most other places in Vermont, our enrollment is rising and our buildings are full -- so we will not be part of the discussions about consolidation taking place around the State.

We are talking about a lot of other things on the Board these days besides the budget, including 21st century curriculum transformation, the application process for next year’s incoming magnet school kindergarten class, diversity recruitment and education for cultural competence, test scores and NCLB, upcoming renovations at a variety of schools, and the length of middle school recess. For the next six weeks or so, though, the budget will be the main thing. I will keep in touch, and hope you will also.

Thanks for reading to the end,

Amy Werbel
Ward 5 School Commissioner
12 Catherine Street
awerbel@bsdvt.org
www.amywerbel.info