Passing the School Budget During Trying Economic Times
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ACROBAT
What a difficult time for a school board to be asking the
community to support a school budget!
“Make sure we don’t exceed the excess spending threshold - We better pay
attention to the MIA!” were some of the comments heard over the past few months
as boards deliberated about what programs should be eliminated and how would
the board create an affordable and responsible budget. Well, for most districts, the budget has now
been adopted and printed in the town/city report for distribution to
voters.
Now comes the second half of the challenging budget game -
advocating for budget passage. However
some believe board members can’t legally encourage citizens to vote for the
budget. This is not true. What the law says, in 16 V.S.A. §563(23), the
school board “May, at the expense of the district, present informational
materials to the electorate on any matter to be voted. However, such materials
shall be limited to those that are reasonably designed to inform, educate and
explain to the electorate the board’s position on the matter.” This means that school officials may not use
public funds to advocate for budget passage but can provide information that
will help voters understand how public funds will be used to educate students.
So how can the school board advocate legally and effectively
to support budget passage? You may find
the following ideas helpful as the annual town/city meeting date fast
approaches.
Write a series of op-ed articles for the local newspaper that
provide factual information about how the district works, budget priorities,
and state and federal education requirements.
As long as you don’t use the school computer, copy machine, paper, or
postage you can advocate for community support with newspapers.
Host coffee clutches in citizens homes for specific groups of
people – parents, senior citizens, business people, naysayers… (helpful to
invite individuals who are perceived to be key opinion leaders).
Divide up board member responsibilities and assign different
members to meet with service organizations, PTAs, church groups, the select
board, and other community organizations.
Assign different board members specific portions of the
budget to be the most knowledgeable and speak about it at the annual school
district meeting.
Meet with faculty and staff to communicate budget priorities
and encourage those who live in the community to vote. When board members review the voter checklist
they are often surprised at the number of resident employees who are either not
registered or who don’t vote on the school budget.
Host a voter registration event at school for parents and
resident staff.
Board members divide up the voter check list and target key
citizens, encouraging them to get out and vote.
Offer personal rides to the annual school district meeting
(that doesn’t mean use the bus!).
A longer term strategy, which is used by schools across the
country, is to create a monthly information breakfast for a group of key
opinion leaders. Districts often call
this (your town) University. The invited
individuals attend a “Did You Know” information meeting, generally 8:00 to 9:30
AM, tour a different part of the school each time with a student guide, eat
breakfast, and listen to a continuum of presentations. At the end of the semester/year, the
“matriculating” learner receives a diploma from
(your town) University. They are
now much more informed about how schools really work; a great proactive
strategy for engaging key opinion leaders in your community.
Go to the VSBA web site where you’ll find a PowerPoint
document that you can download and use slides from to create a presentation
that is specific to your district. The
VSBA web site also provides web stream vignettes with print materials on Act 82
and other related budget information.
Overall, these strategies are intended to “Get the Public On
Your Side Before You Need Them!”