The Citizen's Budget and Finance Advisory Committee (CBFAC) is working on a primer on the funding for the Saint Paul Public Schools. One of the the priorities for our group is to provide "entry" so that people who want to be part of that process know where they can "plug-in". The Saint Paul School Budgets are divided 50/50 between site-based decisions made by local school groups and central budget decisions made by the Saint Paul School Board. But as Ann noted, there is a budget schedule (Jan.-June) and we are rapidly approaching it. In my opinion, it's unlikely someone new could get up to speed fast enough to be a meaningful participant at the School Board level. In all liklihood, the best of applicants would likely find the process pretty frustrating. As Chuck noted, there are many other places for new people to get experience, whether its through parent/teacher organizations, site councils for local schools or other advisory committees for the school district. I'm not saying that service in these arenas should be seen as a necessary pre-requisite to school board election--the Fall election will decide who should be on the Board for the next budget cycle. The open position is going to be tough work in a tight time frame. Better to trust that to a veteran and then give new recruits a chance to get elected and join the process from the beginning. Matt Flory Mac Groveland and Member Citizen's Budget and Finance Advisory Committee Member
Anne Carroll <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I very much appreciate the questions that Mary Petrie posed and I look forward to hearing more responses from everyone on this list. I would like to clarify one point of fact, however, with regard to responsibilities of the temporary appointee: by the time this appointment is made in early June the Board will be about one vote away from a finished budget for 05-06. St. Paul Public Schools has a strong site-based decision making system where major portions of the budgeting authority lies, and their budgets are due in the next 10 days. Our citywide Citizen's Budget and Finance Advisory Committee has been meeting regularly and will be done meeting with the Board by mid-June. And right now the district is seeking even broader community input via www.spps.org on budget-cutting decisions that have citywide implications (busing, athletics, all-day kindergarten, operations, equipment, etc.); that will be completely finished well before June. So while the work of the appointee will surely be complex and challenging -- as it always is -- it will not include deep work on the 05-06 budget. -- Anne Carroll, St. Paul School Board ------------------------------------------------------------ Anne R. Carroll Carroll, Franck & Associates Public Involvement, Strategic Planning, Communications 1357 Highland Parkway St. Paul, MN 55116 USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] 651-690-9162 School Board: 651-690-9156 "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. "...You will be more credible and you will be more powerful if you do not separate the lives you live from the words you speak." -- Paul Wellstone "A politician worries about the next election. A true states[wo]man worries about the next generation, and children yet unborn." - e.e. cummings ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
