April 11, 2003

 

School Committee members say Lavender never promised

By JILL ANDERSON

Staff writer

NEWBURYPORT -- School Committee members criticized Mayor Al Lavender earlier this week for reneging on a promise to cover all the charter school reimbursement costs.

But yesterday, some members conceeded that Lavender never actually made the promise.

"I never understood it to be a promise, but believe he said it was his intent," said committee Vice Chairman Bill Heenehan, who accused the mayor Monday night of backing out on a promise. "The difference is the word. ... I did believe it was his intent and he did not (say it) in that meeting. He did say privately that it was his intent to do that. But, I stand corrected. We were assuming that the city would pay."

At the School Committee meeting Monday night, some committee members lashed out at Lavender after he announced the schools would have to cover half, or $650,000, in charter school reimbursement costs next year. This would create a 4 percent cut in Superintendent Mary Murray's $19.8 million recommended budget, possibly stretching to so-called "level three" reductions which include cuts in special programs like art and music, student services, and a shared principal between the Kelley and Brown schools.

Lavender said Wednesday that he never made that promise to the committee in public or private.

"I don't know where they came up with that," Lavender said. He said he didn't deny the accusation at the meeting because he didn't "think it was worth disputing at that moment."

Committee member Bruce Menin said he never thought the city would cover that entire cost.

"I was never under that assumption -- no matter what my heart desired," Menin said. He said he thought the city would cover half the cost as it did this fiscal year.

Committee member Ruth Garvey and Mary Anne Clancy agreed with Heenehan that the mayor's intent was to have the city cover the entire cost.

"There was never a promise," Garvey said.

"My impression was he made a commitment to us," Clancy said, noting that it was discussed several times on different occasions.

"The other night was the first time that was brought up," Clancy said, referring to Lavender's announcement the city wasn't going to cover the cost.

But, up until that point, Lavender also never publicly made any commitment the city would cover nearly $1.3 million in charter school reimbursement.

At the two March School Committee meetings, the charter school reimbursement was discussed -- once at the March 3 meeting when Lavender was absent, and again on March 17, when Lavender made no commitment to covering the cost.

Heenehan pointed out at the March 17 meeting that there were ongoing discussions with Lavender and school officials about the city paying the entire charter school cost.

Lavender admitted that night that the issue had been discussed.

"At this point, it's an unknown quantity," Lavender said that night. "We'll have to address that as time goes on."

Lavender reiterated that the budget was going to be tight in the city and state.

Looking back, Lavender said he doesn't know what motivated committee members to criticize him Monday night.

"I can't tell you what motivates someone else," Lavender said. "They want to get as much money as possible out of the city -- this is their reaction."

Heenehan said Monday night's reaction was purely based off surprise. "To have him say the other night that he decided on Friday we'd split it and didn't inform us, took us by surprise," Heenehan said.

Lavender said he didn't give the committee any notification before the meeting because he had already told them to prepare for a 10 percent cut.

"If they want the city to pay in full for the charter school, then we'll cut their budget by 4 percent," Lavender said. "They were told several weeks ago to expect up to 10 percent cuts. Apparently it didn't sink in to anybody why the instructions were to level-fund and propose a 10 percent cut. If you take $650,000 and figure out what percentage that is of $19.8 million -- it comes out much less than 10 percent."

After the most recent School Committee meeting, Lavender said he thinks the committee tried to shift the blame to him for possible cuts.

"If they want to pass the buck and blame it on the mayor -- the School Committee does that every year," Lavender said. "The mayor's job is to look out for the city, not just one department."

Committee members say they weren't trying to fix political blame on the mayor.

"It's false," said Heenehan. "This is a committee that hasn't shied away from responsibility to schools or community. We make hard decision, but at same time, we believe the city is in a financial position to support at the same level or a slightly-increased level."

Clancy also dismissed accusations that the committee was passing the blame.

"That's ludicrous," Clancy said. "We're all in this together. There's no pitting of one person against another. It got heated because it was so surprising. We will have to work closely to find a way to fund this. This is not just his problem, but all our issue."

Garvey said Monday night only illustrates the problems with communication not malicious actions of committee members.

"The whole tone of that meeting was very disappointing," Menin said. "I thought the way the mayor was treated was not appropriate. I don't particularly feel I want to defend this mayor, but I felt this wasn't going to promote dialogue between the city and the School Committee or convince the community that they knew what they were talking about."

Dick Sullivan Jr. and Laurie Naughton didn't return phone calls.

 

 
 
(This article replicated online with permission of the Newburyport Daily News, an Eagle Tribune Newspaper.)
 
 
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