Selectmen, School Department disagree on budget
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Southborough - Because school officials and the Board of Selectmen remain at odds on which pocket the money to pay for the leasing of technology equipment should be taken from, the town's fiscal year (FY) 2009 K-8 school budget is either right on target or $130,000 over what the selectmen have said the town can aff ord.

The Southborough School Committee approved at its March 12 meeting an FY 2009 budget of $15.79 million, but not included in that amount was $130,000 for the leasing of computers and printers - $65,000 for FY 2009 and $65,000 for FY 2010.

"We're at odds with the selectmen and the Advisory Committee in the sense that we think the leasing of the technology equipment should be paid one way, and they think it should be paid another," School Committee member Paul Gaff ney said.

The selectmen and the Advisory Committee would like to see it as part of the School Department's operational budget, while the School Committee and Superintendent of Schools Charles Gobron want to see it as a separate warrant article at the upcoming Town Meeting.

"We want it treated like a capital expense," Gaff ney said. "They disagree."

Adding to the problem is the fact that Southborough is on the hook for the FY 2009 amount, since it's the second year of a two-year lease agreement already in place. The FY 2010 money would be to begin the two-year process again.

Gaff ney said he's worried that the semantics of where the money is coming from is going to overshadow the real issue.

"I think the disagreement is a red herring that's going to cloud what's at the heart of the matter," Gaff ney said, "and that's whether or not we want to commit to leasing these computers. If we do, then we have to figure out how to pay for them. If we don't, then we have to figure out a plan to purchase the computers and printers and get us up to the levels we're mandated to be at."

The Advisory Committee's issue is whether or not leasing is more cost eff ective than purchasing, Gaff ney explained.

Cheryl Levesque, the district's business director, said that in order to purchase the computers, the School Department would have to issue bonds, which would have to be repaid at an interest rate likely to be near 5 percent.

"Whether we lease or buy with the issuance of bonds, financially it's a wash," Gaff ney said.

School Committee member Jack Kessler said the Advisory Committee's concerns center around being locked into a lease of technology if the budget had to be reduced, potentially putting into play the prospect of teacher layoff s.

Sue Dargan, the School Committee chair, viewed the dilemma from another side altogether.

"Leasing protects technology, which we must have, from budget cuts," Dargan said. "It encumbers the money."

Gobron said he is hoping for a resolution to the disagreement prior to Town Meeting, which begins Monday April 14.