Action Taken!
Town Meeting Votes by Wide and Diverse "Overwhelming Majority" to Support Reasonable CPS Budget, Rejecting "Arbitrary" Cuts Proposed by The FinCom and Select Board!
THANK YOU for coming to Town Meeting on April 30th and voting down the FinCom amendment to reduce the budget by an "OVERWHELMING MAJORITY" and then voting to approve Warrant Article 17 by a similar "OVERWHELMING MAJORITY".
​The FinCom and Select Board advocated for an arbitrary "guideline" of only a 3.3% increase, conflating this reasonable budget ask with other, larger fiscal issues Concord is facing. A wide and diverse demographic of voters spoke for 45 minutes in opposition to this effort and not a single voter spoke in support of the FinCom's (and Select Board) motion or position.
Asking our kids and educators to shoulder the burden of these $600K+ in cuts was demonstrated to be unreasonable, especially given the 6.5%+ increase the rest of the Town Government got.
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So what now? The disconnect between the FinCom and Select Board's position on school support and the voters seems worthy of consideration. If you were at the meeting and have feelings about this representation issue, perhaps consider writing an email/letter to Finance Committee or the Select Board. Or write a letter to the editor of the Bridge. letters@theconcordbridge.org
Another thing to consider is the stress that teachers and administrators have been under, leading up to this vote, knowing that they might have had to make cuts that would result in the reduction of services to kids that need it and the firing of employees. And consider the anxiety the School Committee must have felt, knowing that this reasonable budget was not supported by the Finance Committee or the Select Board. This angst and stress seems to have been totally unnecessary/avoidable, given the unified sentiments against this position expressed by a broad swath of Concordians who spoke (and voted) at Town Meeting.
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