Election Guide: Selectmen Candidates Discuss Framingham Schools & Budget

Editor's Note: Originally published at 6 p.m. March 30. Updated with links to other election guide questions.

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Tuesday is election day in Framingham. 

Many of the races are uncontested, but with the Selectmen's race, there are five candidates vying for two, 3-year terms on the Framingham Board.

The candidates are Deborah Butler, Doug Freeman, Ryan Gagne, Incumbent Selectman Laurie Lee and Cheryl Tully Stoll.  Selectmen Chair Dennis Giombetti chose not to run for re-election.

Framingham Patch asked each of the candidates a series of questions. The answers to those questions were published last week through yesterday.

The Framingham schools are overcrowded. For the last three years, they have seen incoming kindergarten classes of more than 700 students. Half of the Framingham Public Schools are considered Level 3 or under performing by the Commonwealth. The Framingham Superintendent of Schools has proposed a budget increase of more than $8 million for a total budget of $110 million.

The candidates were asked: Do you support that request? If not, how do you think Selectmen can work with the schools to improve the district without spending $110 million?

Butler: "The Superintendent’s proposed increase to the budget is but one facet of a complex, open and ongoing process.  To address this proposed increase or any other proposed increase is an exercise in speculation given the significant changes to the budget that will occur between now and Town Meeting.  As for the issue of Level 3 ratings, I support efforts to address this as a top priority."

Freeman: "School enrollment has increased to the point that the superintendent is proposing a plan the includes re-opening the King School for elementary students and a Fuller/Farley plan for middle school enrollment needs in the future. I agree with the approach taken to deal with the pressing enrollment increases. I feel that utilizing existing school buildings that can be renovated and re-opened is a fiscally prudent approach, as long as those buildings can meet the educational needs of students.

As to the recent years slide from Level II to Level III school performance, the seven year plan presented to the school committee includes almost $4.5mil of increases specifically targeted to 'rebuilding' school performance from Level III back to Level II standards. Although the school budget comes under the direction of the School Committee, not the Board of Selectman, I believe that leadership is needed to be sure that school priorities like performance rebuilding are not short changed. It takes leadership to drive compromises between the School Committee, Town Meeting and the Board of Selectman. I feel that continued discussion on the budget proposals from both the Town side and the School side of spending is required. Effective leadership from the Board of Selectman is needed to find areas in the budget where a compromise agreement can be reached."

Gagne: "We're faced with a tough situation here. The incoming kindergarten class in 2014 is going to have over 900 kids which is larger than we've ever seen. The board of selectman need to work very closely with the school committee to come up with solutions for what will certainly be a case of overcrowding in 5-6 years. Certainly, as I've mentioned before, we need to examine the budget very carefully and make sure we're making educated decisions on where money will be spent, but ultimately I don't think you can really put a price on education."

Lee: "The Board of Selectmen and School Committee, through the Town Manager, CFO and Superintendent are currently working on the preliminary budget numbers, following a process that has worked well for the past 6 years. Differences in budget numbers and expectations are rooted out and discussed. This process and these discussions have always been done in a spirit of cooperation and have resulted in mutual consensus. My support for the schools and this process has been unwavering and has demonstrated 
not only my commitment, but the Board of Selectmen’s commitment to keeping Framingham’s school system strong. I am confident that this year will be no exception and all parties will come to a well thought out and agreed upon conclusion."

Tully Stoll: "As the only Selectmen’s candidate to have attended the school budget workshop, I was very troubledby the lack of detail that was provided to both the school committee and to the public regarding how that proposed increase would be spent.

Public education is a critically important service and a spending hike this large needs more detail, on how it is being spent and how the impacts will be measured. What benchmarks will we use so that we know we are being successful? We need to remove our schools from Level 3 status, and the plans to do so need to be clear, accountable and financially transparent.
Additionally, it was difficult to tell what steps were being made to obtain parity in educational and technology opportunities for students in different schools throughout town. 

Without seeing the details of the budget it is difficult to support or oppose the plan. More information needs to be shared with the public regarding this increase and all of our town budgets.

At that hearing the Superintendent said we will have 900 kindergarteners next year. We are reopening an elementary school, but in six years these children will be in middle school and in nine years they will be in high school. Before we spend too many capital dollars I would like to see a long term school classroom capacity plan to make sure we are prepared to properly educate all of our students K-12."

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