Are You Smarter Than a Third Grader?

   Everyone is in a budget battle of some sort or another. Let's focus on the school department.  Could just some of the problem be with the administration of these said budgets?  Since the recession most households have had to cut back and do with less.  Shouldn't the states and cities be doing this by lowering their budgets? 

Peabody MA

Business Manager Dave Keniston estimates a budget shortfall of $202,000 for the fiscal year, which ended June 30. The final number could fluctuate because not all the accounts have been closed.

One problem was a $230,000 shortfall in the transportation budget, after a drop of 42 percent in the number of full-paying bus passengers last year. The falloff was largely an economic response after the School Committee raised bus fees from $100 to $300 before the start of the last school year.

In addition, a mercury spill from a broken barometer in the high school cost $52,000 in cleanup; a boiler broke at Higgins Middle School, prompting a $34,000 fix; and there were increases in the cost of oil and electricity, Keniston said.

Further, the city spent more than $100,000 on overtime and contractors to clear rooftops after a series of devastating storms dumped piles of snow last winter. The city had hoped for federal funds to help carry the load, but the government kicked in only $3,000, Keniston said. 

 It has been proven many times before that if you raise a fee some will choose not to pay........... simply because their budget can not afford it.