The Boards of Finance, Selectmen and Education held the first of two public hearings on the 2011-2012 budget on Saturday, April 9, which proposes a 3.11 percent increase in spending and an increase to the mill rate of 0.57, bringing it to 20.04.
For a property at the town’s median assessed value — $308,470 — the new mill rate would bring the annual tax bill to $6,182, a $176 increase over the 2010-11 fiscal year.
The 2011-12 budget balances the proposed spending ($55,453,571) with $3,585,282 in revenues and fees (including $300,000 appropriated from the general fund) with $51,868,289 to be collected in taxes. With the Grand List at 19.47 (up 0.97 from a year ago), the new mill rate would increase revenue from taxes by $1,463,000
Along with the $55.5 million allocated in the proposed spending plan, the Board of Finance’s (BOF) budget also includes the creation of a Contingent Reserve Fund as a means of acknowledging an additional $637,429 in projected state revenues were Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed budget to pass as-is.
The potential revenues include an additional $213,743 in sales tax and $323,686 in real estate conveyance taxes, as well as $100,000 in development fees to the Land Use Department.
“Things are improving in retail economics — not job economics, but retail economics,” First Selectman Bill Davidson explained of the potential for increased Land Use fees. “There’s the BJ’s [Wholesale Club] application that is moving quickly and successfully through the process — they have the full expectation that they’ll break ground on that this year — and there are other things happening along Federal Road, so we’re pretty comfortable that $100,000 will be coming in.”
While the funds are not tied directly to any spending, the consensus among the boards is that the reserve fund would be used for capital expenses, building and equipment maintenance, and contributions to the pension plan and other post-employment benefits (OPEB), such as retired employee medical plans.
“We’re not going to rely on that income to support current spending,” BOF Chairman Bill Tinsley said, explaining the Contingent Reserve, which is not incorporated in the overall spending plan. “We don’t know if we’re going to get a penny of it. If we get a dollar of it, we’re going to put it away in a savings account and money is only going to go into that account on a dollar-for-dollar basis.”
There have been questions as to whether the BOF has the authority to determine how potential revenues should be handled, as the annual proposal is officially a spending plan, with a request to levy taxes from the public to meet those appropriations.
“We’re trying to do something a little different this year because we have an unknown potential source of revenue,” Tinsley said. “There are several methodologies, so that it could be done in a number of ways. This is just the way we’ve picked to do it thus far.”
“The objective that we all have,” he said of the three boards, “Was to make sure that it’s just transparent and understandable.”
The school district’s Director of Business and Technology, Art Colley, answered a question from one of the residents in attendance about cost of , which will give each incoming high school freshman a tablet computer to use through their high school careers.
The program will be incorporated throughout Brookfield High School (BHS) through a “four-year rollout,” Colley explained, being paid for through a “restructuring of our copying budget.”
“We’re replacing the older, more expensive equipment with new, less expensive equipment and all that’s being done while keeping our budget flat,” he said.
The district has worked out a deal with the vendor that will reduce the cost to the district, upgrade the current machines before their contract leases are complete and put the savings toward the iPad initiative, however, “The renegotiated copier contract is contingent on us buying these iPads,” according to Board of Education (BOE) Chairman Ray DiStephan, answering questions about whether the copier savings could have been put toward more necessary needs of the district.
“, it’s much more about learning how to use the research tools available — the iPad’s incidental,” DiStephan added. “Also, the kids are out-of-their-minds excited. If you can get kids excited about learning, you’re headed in the right direction.”
A second hearing is scheduled for Thursday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the BHS auditorium, where residents will be able to see the entire presentation, give comments and ask questions.
The BOF's proposal has to be finalized by Tuesday, April 19, for the May 3 Annual Town Meeting to set the referendum date, which by town charter would be between Wednesday, May 11, and Tuesday, May 17.
To me, the issue can be as simple as this: this is going to happen next year or within a few years after that - regardless of how individuals feel about it. I say that for the simple reason that education is moving this direction. Text books have a limited life span at this point. That is just a fact. Brookfield can either get ahead of the technology curve or fall behind it. To me, it is that simple. I am very convinced that this can be implemented in a way that will benefit student learning and better prepare them for what they will be asked to do in college and in the work force. http://www.ipadinschools.com/276/one-year-of-ipad-in-schools/
The iPad is an excellent tool to be used by students. Indicating that it could be used for plagiarism is akin to saying that pencils cause spelling mistakes. Both tools can be used properly or improperly by the user.
Assuming these are the iPad2 devices; what measures is the town taking to help curtail inappropriate photos and videos being taken? Perhaps Apple provides camera-less models and those are the ones being used? If they aren’t, what is the town’s exposure if a fight or locker-room video taken with town property becomes a you-tube sensation? In the current culture it isn’t hard to imagine a parent suing the town over a video of this nature. I'm just curious as to how the town has or plans to deal with this possibility.
I will contact Mr. Katz for additional information.
Look at Policy # 6141.3 http://www.brookfield.k12.ct.us/subsite/dist/page/district-information-policy-series-6000-2038
The I pad cannot replace the teacher who needs to convey the key concepts and learning points. The Ipad can enhance in many ways the ability for students to understand and see specific applications of a concept. It also allows students to go beyond what is taught in the classroom if they have additional interest.
As a recent graduate of Brookfield High School I don't think this whole ipad thing is a good idea. After being around fellow 14-18 year olds for the past 4 years I know how irresponsible students can be. So many kids come back at the end of the school year saying they have lost their books or they were water damaged or have scratches and covers have been ripped off. Not to say that students will treat their iPads like a piece of s*** but let's be honest, I do not think these students are ready for the responsibility of having such an expensive device. Not only that but, come on, students WILL attempt and most likely be successful in stealing fellow classmates ipads and selling them. In addition to these obvious downsides students also will most likely take advantage of the fun aspect of the ipad. On an ipad you can get e-mails and games like angry birds and you can have various applications that distract students from school work and if students are able to access internet, which to my understanding they are outside of school, then they are free to download as many applications as they want and to use them as much as they want during class. Not saying all students of BHS will just dilly dally during class but students will pay more attention to their ipads than to the teachers. Also, based on my experiences with teachers I can see most teachers telling students to just put the ipads away during class which almost defeats the purpose of having them.
Sometimes you have to just let a bad idea fail on it's on, expensive as it may be. We just have to be sure that parents pay for the failure, not Brookfield's taxpayers so accountability and tracking are going to be the key. Keep an eye on the school's check register.
Btw.... Brookfield parents ARE Brookfield taxpayers.
During the Board of Finance meeting, some of these concerned surfaced so let me try to address some of your concerns ( as I currently understand how they will be addressed). 1) Immaturity of 9th graders - can't help you there but isn't it time they grow up? Besides, I believe ( at this point and things can change) their parents will need to purchase a low cost insurance policy to cover loss and damage. I think leaving the "growing up" to the parents is a positive. 2) Stealing - these units will have GPS functionality which can be turned on when the unit is off in order to locate the unit.....I think I'll let the police handle those kids. 3) Game playing - yes, they probably can download the programs from home but in school I believe the schools internet access can control access. 4) In class - the teachers rule the class and that a good thing....I think I'll leave that to them. Will it be perfect, no, but I think it is worth the try since our world is heading this way.Ray DiStephan said above, 'we can get in front of the curve" which I believe we need to be to give our kids the best opportunities.
So if the intentions are get the children used to technology, then I say go for it, just don't go close-sourced.
2) As has been shown with cell phones, this can be a dangerous techonolgy (GPS) for children. Is it the goal of the Board of Education to track kids OUTSIDE the school buildings? The police? Where does it start? When does it stop? Hackers hack. Can they do it now? A year from now? 3) But the issue is OUTSIDE the schools, not inside. 4) Out of 24 hours per day, 7 days a week how many hours are the children in class? How many hours are they unsupervised? What will be the "acceptable level" of issues? Problems? Loss?
You're correct. That's why the design and curriculumn of the STEM charter school being proposed is crucial for the greater Danbury region and it's future scientists, technologists, engineers and mathmeticians. Giving them the opportunity other schools can't/won't.
Two-factor authentication uses your password and another proof of identity -- which in this case is an app called Google Authenticator, which runs on your smartphone. Every time you log in, you need to run the app and input the code it generates. The code is only good for a few seconds, which makes it very secure indeed. Of course, if you lose your phone things can be a little tricky. Don't worry, though: the setup wizard lets you add a backup phone to your account, and generates some backup codes that you can use in a pinch. Really, if you store any kind of sensitive data on your Google account (even your search history!), you should use two-factor authentication. It makes hacking your account almost impossible -- and in a world where your login credentials are synonymous with your real identity, that can only be a good thing.
Stifling creativity is what needs to be overcome with close parental and teachers support. They problem lies in that the teachers and parents have failed to take self responsibility for continuously educating themselves, relegating themselves to the status of digital immigrants in the process by their own choice. Will the schools employ a two factor form of digitial security? When? How? If not, how much risk are they giving? Does Brookfield have the cyber security expertise to deal with this? An answer to cell phone needs? If not, what are it's plans - specific and spelled out in an approved Board of Education document? Is there a timeout factor for inactivity? An automatic lockout after three password tries? The devil is in the details. For the Board of Education to speak in generalities, without securing the digital borders of it's schools and student homes is reckless and waiting for something bad to happen. Without all the answers, the spending resulting from making it safe could be 20 times the cost of the IPads and could result in a significant rise in school operating costs and expose parental internet access to hacking as well. Are they going to equip every kids with a cell phone too? This implementation is a ready-fire-aim exercise, not thought out. It should be rejected until it is.
As to the OS platform, we are NOT teaching an OS... we are using devices to access information. The OS is relatively irrelevant, so long as it is able to access the information the students and teachers need. The iPad, specifically, offers too many great apps, e-books and other resources that other mobile devices were inferior educationally speaking. Once again, we are not teaching the device or the OS.. it is a tool for learning. I remind you that many, many schools have gone, specifically, to the iPad and the results are strong while the drawbacks and pitfalls are minimal. There is no reason to believe that Brookfield Schools can't do the same. We have an excellent school district.
Some may not like the "ahead of the curve" rationale... that is fine. However, the reality is that more and more schools will go this route. This is the way the world works and the way education is moving. So, do we want to be amongst the first to develop our plans, policies and curriculums or do we want to amongst the last?