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Health & Fitness

Call Me Cranky. I Don't Care.

So . . . Bedford’s 2014 school deliberative session is now history. And thus it’s now official that when you go to Bedford High School to vote on Tuesday, March 11, you will be asked to approve a school operating budget of $64,253,874. Or, if that makes you gag and you vote against it with enough other people to defeat it, a default budget will go into effect for $63,454,132, a mere $799,742 less.

If you weren’t there at the deliberative session, did you watch it on BCTV? If so, you may have seen that about a couple hundred people attended. However, I’m told that most television viewers could see very little of the financial soiree. That was due to the fact that nobody made sure that the burned out lightbulbs in the school theater were replaced in time for the meeting. Yep, it’s true. And don’t blame the school custodians for that. You see our grandiose high school theater was built with light fixtures that need to be serviced by specially hired contractors. No cheaper alternatives would have been good enough for Bedford High School after all. Anyway . . . even though the theater is used at a normal rate of three times per year to conduct the business of Bedford taxpayers who pay a lot for the school on the hill, nobody made certain that the lighting at the deliberative session was conducive to humans being able to see clearly. Had I known in advance, I may have brought along my 18-year old cat “Clarence” since cats have sharp enough eyesight to stalk a mouse when it’s pitch black inside or outside. He could have helped me negotiate the theater.

There were perhaps a couple of hundred people at the session, but the majority of the crowd there represented the “gimme” crowd who generally give unequivocal support to any school spending that’s proposed. Some non-residents were there, and quite a few kids were there to lend their applause and cheering when things of course went their way. I’ll admit though that there were no boos or catcalls when anyone questioned any budget item, and  the cheering section kept the display of approvals at a low level. Some of the “gimmes” even said that they “felt the pain” of the town’s elderly who are overwhelmed by taxes. But, their pain did not translate to any willingness to cut so much as a dollar from $64.2 million.

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A father of a girl who loves hockey once again tried to add $39,000 to the budget for the formation of a high school girls’ hockey team, but even school board members once again were reluctant to do so because so few girls were expected to participate. So that was defeated by a ballot vote. Had the school board sanctioned it, I have no doubt whatsoever that it instead would have passed.

I’m quite sure that there will be some who will be offended that I call those who never have a problem with increased school spending as the “gimmes”. I can handle the criticism. I call them the “gimmes” because they obviously believe that nothing for the kids of Bedford is beyond what taxpayers have a duty to provide. I, on the other hand, do not feel that it is my obligation to turn Bedford High School into a Phillips Exeter or a St. Paul’s School for Bedford’s privileged offspring. And I know that I’m not alone with that sentiment. To the horror of the “gimmes”, I do not believe that I owe it to them to fund whatever they want when they want it. And I really don’t give a hoot how many sports championships are won, and find it ludicrous that we fund an unknown portion of over 100 clubs for students, as just two examples of my curmudgery.  I’m tired of essential needs of the whole town being postponed or ignored because of the ever-increasing school budget and subsequent higher taxes. I have the unmitigated gall to believe that beyond essential public education, the parents of Bedford kids should be responsible for all of the extras that they argue are enriching their little darlings. Just as many Bedford residents are forced to make decisions as to what they can afford in their lives when more of their money is going to paying taxes, parents of kids in the Bedford schools should have a responsibility to decide how much they personally can afford or are willing to part with to pay for the extras that they desire and/or demand for their own kids. I strongly suspect that such would put an end to lots of things that all of us now finance.

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I’ll say it again. Things are out of control in the Bedford bubble. It’s not only the town’s elderly who are being disregarded, but people of all ages who have to keep digging deeper to satisfy the wants of those who seem to believe that they are entitled to obligate us to give them whatever they want. Our pockets are getting picked, and I for one am sick of it.

I’ll vote against the $64 million budget with totally good conscience. Why? Because although a default budget will bring about much hand wringing, I’m sure that the Bedford schools will survive just fine.

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