The parents' education about the mandated $850k reduction in this year's requested 2.9% ($2,255,634) school budget increase was a "somber evening" intoned Ms. Low.
Baloney. A somber evening is when someone dies.
But Ms. Low was trying to send a message: the Board of Finance has done your kids a terrible wrong.
More baloney. Almost 100% of the adjustments that were eventually revealed -- after the voluntary February adjustments -- had zero educational consequences. (Do you wonder, as I do, why those weren't introduced in February?)
Instead of launching into her proposed adjustments, Ms. Low began by regurgitating the usual incomplete charts comparing Ridgefield to other DRG-As.
This was a further attempt to rile parents.
No where was the statistic that Ridgefielders' household income was the lowest of the towns she compared us to. Misleading you say? Maybe. We report. You decide.
Then came what she didn't want to call her "recommendations" -- but merely suggestions -- for those possible adjustments.
Another message: 'I don't support these savings' ...even though we can afford them without hurting education.
Then some smoke & mirrors. We like to say Ms. Low's administration is the most transparent in recent history but I'm beginning to wonder.
Included in the adjustments was some low hanging fruit like raising RHS parking fees but she's leaving it to the high school to come up with $30k in reductions.
Then there is the expected savings from changing light bulbs but the $1.5 million capital request for that project hasn't yet been approved by the voters.
What happens if voters turn it down? 'Well, we'll find it somewhere else.' (Same for the Selectmen's budget)
A nip here, a tuck there. Death by a thousand cuts she called it but the students didn't feel the pain; only Ms. Low's ego did.
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