Last night, February 15th, members of the Town Council and Board of Education came together to discuss and build upon where they agree.

Officials in attendance:  Karen Kramer, Mark Gill, Althea Gill, Josh Freeman, Rick Field, Jan Rubino, Jack Scavone, Christine Howard, Steve Clark, Tom Frattaroli, Bob Pagoni, Bill Guzman

What did they talk about?

The meeting started off with fairly low energy.  “I’m tired!” one participant proclaimed.  These officials spend most evenings at one meeting or another in service of our town.  Yet, as the meeting progressed, passions were activated.  Each of these people cares deeply about what happens to Tolland.  They feel responsible for making their best, positive impact.  They expressed concern that the current system isn’t working and drives divisiveness in town. They expressed concern that everyone is looking just at a number, a percentage increase to the budget.  They expressed concern that more residents don’t get involved and don’t come out to vote.

Officials drafted a goal statement

The instructions were to NOT make it pretty, rather to get the collective thoughts down.  Here’s the DRAFT goal statement participants agreed upon:

BOE, Town Manager and Town Council supports and town votes in a mutually agreed upon budget.

• Our budget should be perceived as efficient and should include alternative ways of delivering services where appropriate
• Our budget should be responsive to the needs of the residents and students of Tolland while being fiscally minded.
• Our budget is a direct investment in our town’s future
• Our budget should find the balance between delivery of service and fiscal responsibility
• Our budget should be more easily understood by the public with respect to cost and priorities
• We should have a plan for effectively communicating and disseminating information, building upon what we already are using.

 So….?

Reading this over, clearly it isn’t easy … otherwise, we would have done it already!  What is in the way?  Obstacles listed included

• Not enough revenue increase to cover fixed cost increase
• Voters are polarized either toward the BOE budget or the Town Manager’s budget
• Some won’t bend, consider other points of view
• Disengagement / lack of awareness of programs/services and their value
• The economic picture
• Unfunded mandates / public perception that the school budget is bloated
• Lack of pride

And …

… with this list of formidable obstacles our officials went to work.  In groups, they began developing potential solutions.  These are IDEAS, possibility thinking.  While few are likely to be adopted “as is” one idea seeds another and through the creative process plans of action are developed.

IDEAS that might address polarized voters

• The Board of Education and Town Council first unify within, THEN combined toward a mutually agreed upon budget.
• More careful language mare made that don’t incite one perspective against another.
• BOE and the town submit their budget to a third party, such as a board of finance.
• We work to infect pride through sports, music, plays and coffee houses.
• We engage well known residents and their networks.

Solutions to other obstacles were brainstormed

In the end, participants were please about this process.  What will be done next?  One participant remarked,

“Next year we need to begin this [collaborative process] earlier!”

Another remarked,

“I didn’t want to come tonight.  Now I’m glad I did.  This was good.”

Meeting handout (.pdf) is here

Photo credit:  Jayme Kunze

Through the budget process, Friends of Tolland Schools has continued to ask our leaders to present a unified budget to taxpayers.  We all need to understand, in no uncertain terms, the consequences if the budget increase would be 1, 2, or 3 percent.  We ask the Board of Education work with the Town Council, build trust and model collaboration within the budget process.   The further the budget process progresses, the fewer the opportunities become to break out of long existing roles and patterns of interaction.  The best opportunity for this collaboration is prior to the BOE voting on the budget at their February 17th meeting.  Our leaders have listened.  A collaborative discussion was scheduled for Monday, February 6th.  Unfortunately, that meeting was cancelled because of the limited number of elected officials who could make it.  We recognize that these hard working volunteers are involved in town business most nights of the week, yet …

We need your help, now! 

Please take just a few minutes today to send an email.  Let elected officials know the value you see in their meeting together prior to February 17th and developing their shared perspective.  School cost increases outpacing funding sources is a complex, multi-year problem.   We all want a school system that works more effectively.  We all want a sustainable Tolland.

Please send your email to the following Board of Education and Town Council addresses:

gblock@tolland.k12.ct.us;sclark@tolland.k12.ct.us;tfrattaroli@tolland.k12.ct.us;agill@tolland.k12.ct.us;
kkramer@tolland.k12.ct.us;rpagoni@tolland.k12.ct.us;apowell@tolland.k12.ct.us;ftantillo@tolland.k12.ct.us;
choward@tolland.k12.ct.us;jscavone@tolland.org;mgill@tolland.org;sbelsito@tolland.org;rfield@tolland.org;
jfreeman@tolland.org;jrubino@tolland.org;bstanford@tolland.org;swerbner@tolland.org;wguzman@tolland.k12.ct.us

Want more information?

• Upcoming meetings
• Our Advisory Board’s Situation Assessment
• FTS Letter to the Board of Education