Tight-Fisted Town Meeting Holds Firm On School Department Budget Cuts-This Day In Norwood History-June 22, 1978

Finance Commissioners Threaten School Committee Recall As Teachers Association Moves Toward Legal Action

After heated debate, the tight-fisted final session of town meeting managed to keep the municipal budget at roughly last year’s level of $30.8 million. The refusal of the meeting last night to reconsider its cut of the school budget leaves the town open to court action.

The controversy over the $600,000 cut from the $11.3 million school budget Monday and Tuesday nights continues as the Norwood Teachers Association (NTA) has said it will go to court to get the funds restored if town meeting adjourned without reconsidering the $10.7 million approved for the school department. Two members of the finance commission, which championed the cuts, said last night they will move to recall the school committee for “fiscal irresponsibility” if the NTA is successful in getting the funds restored.

Immediately after last night’s session convened, Philip W. Riley, a District 4 town meeting member, moved for reconsideration of the school budget, urging town meeting to “compromise now in order to make a sensible decision on closing a school.” The school committee has agreed to close a school in 1979, but says the $600,000 cut at town meeting may force a school closing this September. Riley’s motion lost on a standing vote and one town meeting member said, “Now let’s get to work.”

About 132 town meeting members, the poorest attendance in six nights, quickly accepted the FinCom’s recommendations on the remaining department budgets with little discussion and rejected a proposed addition to the bylaws to control dog defecation. Town meeting members will begin considering a 17-article special warrant at 7:30 tonight at Junior High South.

Riley, who proposed school budget reconsideration, met with school committee members Richard W. Kief and John M. Chisholm prior to town meeting. He told town meeting if the budget was reconsidered some members of the school committee would explain how cuts could be made, provided the funds for administrative and teachers’ salaries were restored. “Another court suit we do not need in this town,” he said.

FinCom Chairman William F. Collins, himself a schoolteacher, said he and E. Peter Bamber would initiate a recall drive if the NTA is successful in getting the cuts restored. “That would be a case of the teachers running the school department, just as the firefighters are running the fire department,” he said.

Generating the most discussion last night was a move by Walter Grady of District 9 to cut the amount allocated to the reserve fund from $150,000 to $100,000 after he charged the FinCom with abusing the privilege of allocating money from that account. “The FinCom has not limited expenditures from the reserve fund to the required unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances, and has pre-empted town meeting in some cases,” he said. He specifically referred to $14,000 transferred from the fund last year for a wage and salary study and $16,500 for a study of the old Norwood Arena property. In both cases, he said, the need was not out of the ordinary nor were the expenses unforeseen. He also moved to restrict the FinCom to $250 transfers for planning studies.

However, his motions were declared illegal by Town Counsel Justin S. Barton, since the state legislature granted FinCom power over the reserve fund. In a rare parliamentary procedure, Town Moderator William Plasko’s subsequent ruling of the motion void was challenged but he was upheld on a standing vote.

Article 1, which was approved the first night of town meeting and set a ceiling of five percent on pay raises for all town employees, was reconsidered last night, but only to remove from the article those pay increases that have already been signed and are included in department budgets. The $671,218 appropriated was reduced to $314,419 and includes school employees.

Also approved last night was $9,004,540 for the light department, $313,927 for the library, $214,893 for recreation, $1,171,135 for interest and debt requirements, $217,437 for cemeteries, $344,100 for the water department, and $180,384 for veterans benefits.

The addition to the bylaws to control dog defecation proposed by Paul Poznick was the subject of a brief, but humorous, discussion. The bylaw would have made it unlawful for anyone to permit his dog to deposit excrement on public or private property not owned by him, and would have imposed fines for “failure to remove excrement left by such a dog.” Town counsel said he questioned the legality of the bylaw and the proposal lost, although Poznick said, “If you defeat this measure, we all deserve to live in it up to here,” he said, holding his hand up level to his neck.

Tight-Fisted Town Meeting Holds Firm On School Department Budget Cuts-This Day In Norwood History-May 24, 1979

Finance Commissioners Threaten School Committee Recall As Teachers Association Moves Toward Legal Action

After heated debate, the tight-fisted final session of town meeting managed to keep the municipal budget at roughly last year’s level of $30.8 million. The refusal of the meeting last night to reconsider its cut of the school budget leaves the town open to court action.

The controversy over the $600,000 cut from the $11.3 million school budget Monday and Tuesday nights continues as the Norwood Teachers Association (NTA) has said it will go to court to get the funds restored if town meeting adjourned without reconsidering the $10.7 million approved for the school department. Two members of the finance commission, which championed the cuts, said last night they will move to recall the school committee for “fiscal irresponsibility” if the NTA is successful in getting the funds restored.

Immediately after last night’s session convened, Philip W. Riley, a District 4 town meeting member, moved for reconsideration of the school budget, urging town meeting to “compromise now in order to make a sensible decision on closing a school.” The school committee has agreed to close a school in 1979, but says the $600,000 cut at town meeting may force a school closing this September. Riley’s motion lost on a standing vote and one town meeting member said, “Now let’s get to work.”

About 132 town meeting members, the poorest attendance in six nights, quickly accepted the FinCom’s recommendations on the remaining department budgets with little discussion and rejected a proposed addition to the bylaws to control dog defecation. Town meeting members will begin considering a 17-article special warrant at 7:30 tonight at Junior High South.

Riley, who proposed school budget reconsideration, met with school committee members Richard W. Kief and John M. Chisholm prior to town meeting. He told town meeting if the budget was reconsidered some members of the school committee would explain how cuts could be made, provided the funds for administrative and teachers’ salaries were restored. “Another court suit we do not need in this town,” he said.

FinCom Chairman William F. Collins, himself a schoolteacher, said he and E. Peter Bamber would initiate a recall drive if the NTA is successful in getting the cuts restored. “That would be a case of the teachers running the school department, just as the firefighters are running the fire department,” he said.

Generating the most discussion last night was a move by Walter Grady of District 9 to cut the amount allocated to the reserve fund from $150,000 to $100,000 after he charged the FinCom with abusing the privilege of allocating money from that account. “The FinCom has not limited expenditures from the reserve fund to the required unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances, and has pre-empted town meeting in some cases,” he said. He specifically referred to $14,000 transferred from the fund last year for a wage and salary study and $16,500 for a study of the old Norwood Arena property. In both cases, he said, the need was not out of the ordinary nor were the expenses unforeseen. He also moved to restrict the FinCom to $250 transfers for planning studies.

However, his motions were declared illegal by Town Counsel Justin S. Barton, since the state legislature granted FinCom power over the reserve fund. In a rare parliamentary procedure, Town Moderator William Plasko’s subsequent ruling of the motion void was challenged but he was upheld on a standing vote.

Article 1, which was approved the first night of town meeting and set a ceiling of five percent on pay raises for all town employees, was reconsidered last night, but only to remove from the article those pay increases that have already been signed and are included in department budgets. The $671,218 appropriated was reduced to $314,419 and includes school employees.

Also approved last night was $9,004,540 for the light department, $313,927 for the library, $214,893 for recreation, $1,171,135 for interest and debt requirements, $217,437 for cemeteries, $344,100 for the water department, and $180,384 for veterans benefits.

The addition to the bylaws to control dog defecation proposed by Paul Poznick was the subject of a brief, but humorous, discussion. The bylaw would have made it unlawful for anyone to permit his dog to deposit excrement on public or private property not owned by him, and would have imposed fines for “failure to remove excrement left by such a dog.” Town counsel said he questioned the legality of the bylaw and the proposal lost, although Poznick said, “If you defeat this measure, we all deserve to live in it up to here,” he said, holding his hand up level to his neck.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger