Saugus yet to close book on new account

SAUGUS – The Finance Committee declined to take a vote on an article that would segregate money specifically for the purpose of purchasing textbooks, but it has not ruled the idea out completely.And that makes Selectman Michael Kelleher downright ecstatic.”I was hoping for $100,000 and now we might go for $200,000,” he said. Kelleher authored the article that asks for $100,000 to be placed in a targeted stabilization fund solely for the purpose of buying textbooks for the School Department.Finance Committee members questioned where the $100,000 would come from, how else the account could be funded and if in fact $100,000 was enough.Kelleher noted that a number of residents, including himself, have taken their kids out of the school system because they find it lacking in many ways and textbooks, to him, are a big part of that.”Some of the books those kids are using are the same books we used,” he said. “We’ve under funded education for a number of years. We’ve taken a huge leap back.”Finance Committee member Ronald Jepson wondered where the $100,000 would come from to fund the account, while Vice Chairman Ken DePato wondered if it was enough.Kelleher said he doesn’t like the idea of saying the funding will come “from available funds” because that can be a kiss of death, but that is what Town Manager Andrew Bisignani had recommended.If pinned down, Kelleher said he would recommend the money be taken from the library budget. He has long advocated for the schools to receive funding over the library as part of his “building a budget from the top down” idea.Kelleher told the Finance Committee he believes the town has to revisit how it creates its budget and handle it like a homeowner does. He said the town should fund its core services first, such as public safety, education and town services, and consider everything else a luxury.”It’s sort of like shorting your mortgage to pay the cable TV bill,” he said.Finance Committee Vice Chairman Ken DePato said he wasn’t necessarily against the proposal but it needed more information.”Rather than make a recommendation we need to get a more solid figure,” he said.Superintendent Keith Manville indicated it would cost more in the area of $200,000 to replace books throughout the district and DePato asked him to solidify the number. Manville said he could gather that information easily enough since each school kept an inventory of its textbooks.He also asked Bisignani to find out if it would be feasible and acceptable to bond for the books rather than form another account.”I’d rather do it the right way and the correct way and take care of our problems all at once rather than in pieces,” he said.DePato asked Kelleher to come to the committee’s next meeting, Wednesday, May 7, when it would likely make a recommendation.”I’m very optimistic we’ll get at least $100,000 and now we might get $200,000,” Kelleher said following the meeting. “This would be a good step for the School Department towards getting back to where it should be.”