Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 6/21/2021 - P39
Special Board of Aldermen 06-21-2021 Page 39
Chairman Dowd
We will move on to Community Development Division, Department 153 Building Inspection; 155 Code
Enforcement; 170 Waterways Hydraulic Operations; 181 Community Development; 182 Planning & Zoning;
184 Urban Programs and 186 Transportation. Are there any questions? Seeing none we will go on to
Education — Department 191 Schools.
Daniel Richardson Berkeley Street, Nashua, New Hampshire. On Page 263 one line item here, longevity.
So for Fiscal Year ’21 it was $385,000.00, so far of that $385,000.00 of budget, you spent $439,000.00
through March. So it has got to be a lot higher than that. So you spent more money than you had and now
you are proposing $570,000.00 an even higher number. So it looks like it went up say about 40% in
longevity. So my question is what is that you did not plan for on that line item?
Mayor Donchess
The School Department would have to answer that question.
Chairman Dowd
They negotiate their own contracts, they handle their own funds so that’s a question for the Board of
Education. We only give them a bottom line number.
Mr. Richardson That’s great. I’d like to hear from the Board of Education.
Chairman Dowd
They are not here this evening.
Mr. Richardson Isn’t the Superintendent here to defend the budget?
Chairman Dowd
| don’t see him. And the Superintendent is an acting Superintendent at the moment.
Mr. Richardson It’s a Budget Hearing and you don’t have the Superintendent here. It’s a major failing.
Chairman Dowd
Alright we will move on to the next Division, Debt Service Contingency and Interfund Transfers, Department
193 Debt Service; 194 Contingency and 198 Interfund Transfers.
Unidentified Speaker So we are past education? | just got out of my seat. Can | make my comment here?
Chairman Dowd
Go ahead.
Christina McKinney 6 Southgate Drive. | am sure this was intended to be a positive but | just thought it was
utterly sad. This is Page 280 | believe. 260 a picture our budget, our education budget went through pre-
school looking at screens, on Page 240 little kids wearing masks. We have Page 911 little pre-school girl
looking at screens. What | do know about education | started my career as a teacher many decades ago
and | sure as heck know based on any parent | have spoken to, that particularly the little kids this has been
a disaster for them. You can put a bow on it any way you want but teachers should have, in my opinion,
been in school. And had we all behaved in the same way that many City employees did, including
teachers, had our grocery store workers decided to not show up.
