Tupper Lake Tax Dollars and Sense

06/30/2024

If only...

06/08/2024

06/01/2024

The outrage towards the suggestion that TL parents and taxpayers have a greater say in the hiring of the next superintendent of schools is frankly worrisome.

05/31/2024

Rarely do I agree with an ADE editorial. I'm not sure why the biggest group of stakeholders would get the smallest voice in such a huge decision 🤔

This is a particularly challenging moment for the Tupper Lake Central School District. It’s also the perfect moment to invite everyone into the process as the

05/24/2024

Every last time...

05/22/2024

It's really sad that the struggling students lost a chance to get a budget that better serves their academic needs!

05/21/2024

Check out the NYS Education Department's website's 3-8 assessment data for the past 10 years and tell me our kids don't need more educational support than this budget offers! Vote NO and force the board to restore Education cuts and trim money from other areas of the budget!

05/21/2024

I am not voting for either candidate on the ballot for the TL school board elections tomorrow. Both of them have been at the helm for more than a decade and after their reelection almost 2 decades. If you want accountability from school officials and for financial decisions you shouldn't cast a vote for the status quo. I have no personality animosity that I hold toward either candidate but I can't vote for either one of them because they are decent people or that no one else filed a petition to run. I will try to figure out a couple of names to write In on my ballot and hopefully you will come up with a few names too!

05/20/2024

I have changed my mind and I plan on voting NO on tomorrow's TL school budget and school bus proposition. I do not feel that given the financial status of the district this budget does enough to prioritize EDUCATION over ATHLETIC programs. How do you cut the entire Middle school intervention program, a HS science teacher, special education teachers, an art teacher, music teacher, a guidance counselor, school psychologist, and school social worker but keep 13 Varsity and 11 modified sports teams intact? Our grades 3-8 NY State assessment testing scores are abysmal and have been for years. Let's give our kids a better educational future and demand a better budget and a proposition to purchase a single bus in a June re-vote!

05/20/2024

Is there anyone in the community interested in serving on the school board. I would be willing to support the right, write-in candidates. I do not feel that some of the long standing members are in favor of putting academics ahead of athletics in the budget or being transparent about expenditures, the Superintendent search process, or exactly what will be removed from the program component if a contingency budget needs to be adopted. I thought Garrett Kopp (Birch Boys Chaga young entrepreneur) was interested or another young business person striving to improving academic performance and perhaps a retiree that has the time to devout to the budget process and has a real feel for the less wealthy and elderly taxpayers. Any suggestions 🤔 Public schools exist to Educate kids first and foremost!

05/14/2024

It is interesting that a person with some familiarity with TLCSD suggested to me that there would be more money to be saved by rejecting the bus proposition. They state that we could skip replacing them this year and we would save over $200k. I am unsure if this is totally true. There's $349,889 on line 9712-600 for serial bond - bus purchase. The proposition say that is for 2 busses. It appears that NY state will reimburse about 75 percent of the cost (over a period of 5 years) so ultimately we will pay about $87, 500 for 2 busses or 43,750 each. Maybe less after trade in. Does anyone know what kind of trade in we probably get on those old busses? That seems like a good deal, that is if we do ACTUALLY do need to purchase them or anticipate that we will have significant repairs to keep our fleet going. I'm a huge advocate of keeping fleet costs in check and sometimes that means a dedicated replacement life cycle. They didn't detail the savings they claimed. Does anyone have any insight?
I would assume we pay interest on the full bond amount. I want to keep myself and the taxpayers informed. PLEASE keep it civil!