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I had the chance to attend Tuesday's Special Board of Education meeting. I listened to Superintendent Mark Lewis and various members of the community speak on this issue. I agree that we do have a problem with ever increasing taxes, and many of the speakers made excellent points about needed changes to the way things are done.
If a Contingency Budget must be used, there would be an additional $357,052 in cuts beyond the $186,809 in cuts proposed in the amended budget. Exactly how those cuts would be implemented and what programs would need to be cut, is anybody's guess. What programs that we in the Lansing community have had the pleasure of having available for our children would be cut? Sports? Music? Art? Would many of our children’s teachers be let go? Would class size have to grow larger then we would have ever imagined?
Additionally, under a Contingency Budget there would be limits in spending that could be done, including the prevention of moving forward with what I understand is a very much needed capitol improvement plan for our schools.
Personally, I believe the best decision our community can make next Tuesday, is to pass the amended budget. Once this is done it would be important for those speakers who presented those excellent budget saving ideas at the last board meeting and other concerned Lansing citizens to get involved with the budget process early in the new school year. In this way, we, the community, can get a better understanding of how the budget process works, make the needed suggestions to eliminate what might be "glut" from the budget while it is being developed. In that way hopefully next years budget could be more palatable to the Lansing community when it is presented in May 2007.
I urge you to vote yes for the amended Lansing School budget.
John C. Comisi
Lansing, NY